THE SCHOOLHOUSE
It is only six months that the West Coast Gallery took over a lease of the Piha Schoolhouse from the Auckland City Council.
On 16th June, the Gallery organised a special celebration for the local community for the combined 'Opening of the Wetland Trust' and the restoration of the Piha Schoolhouse. Initially it was in a sad state of disrepair, but after several working bees, it has been carefully freshly painted and refurbished and beautifully presented inside. At all times, the emphasis has been to keep the integrity of the beautiful old building. Built in 1928, the building does have historic value so we have striven to maintain and preserve this. A native garden has been planted around the sides of the building and as it is situated in the beautiful Wetland trust, it has a park-like setting. Picnic tables have been installed as well outside.
Since the opening, the Piha Schoolhouse has been embraced as a small scale intimate venue for hire and is such an asset for our community and ideal for many varied activities. At present we have many ongoing yoga classes who use the space continually. It has also been used for birthday parties, a book launch, meetings for M.P's, environmental meetings and coming up is a Personal Development course, Creative Workshop, Art club for children, Holiday workshops for children and Adults and of course the popular Open Studio Weekend.
The Gallery will continue to explore all possibilities of using this space to enhance its use for the community. A local resident recently put this comment online,
"The small size and uncluttered, multi functional, central and neutral aspects are all assets in a community the size of Piha. The School House definitely fills a niche and it is so good to see it restored so lovingly."
PIHA SCHOOLHOUSE IS FOR HIRE!
This is the perfect, intimate venue for so many activities such as book club meetings, art workshops, and meetings for local clubs such as a sewing or knitting group, environmental groups, yoga classes, etc.
PLEASE PROVIDE US WITH AN ‘EXPRESSION OF INTEREST’
Basic information about the space is as follows:
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Electricity has now been installed by Council
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There is no drinking water so hirers will need to bring their own
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There is no toilet so hirers need to use the public toilets in the Piha Domain
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Council have stipulated that the building can only be used in daylight hours
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Dimensions of the inside floor space are: 8m x 5m approximately
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There is a limit of up to 35 people allowed in the space at any one time
Please note that we are booking the space according to the NZ school terms and holidays.
PLEASE ENSURE YOU PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION
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Contact details, whether it’s for an individual or group (with anticipated numbers)
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Reason for hiring, whether it’s for a one - off booking or would like to hire it on an ongoing basis during the school term (e.g. number of weeks required)
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It would be helpful if you could provide the dates and times required for hire if possible
If you’re interested in hiring the space, whether it be for a one - off event or wishing to hire on a more regular basis, please email the Piha Schoolhouse: pihaschoolhouse@gmail.com