The bulk of the roadway improvements to the Coromandel Town’s main street will be finished by the time Santa and his helpers pay a visit on 7 December at 3pm, but the final route of the parade won’t be confirmed until closer to the date.

The work to reduce the steep camber on the road should be finished around mid-December. Improvements to the stormwater drainage have already been completed and our contractor, Downer, is now digging out the road pavement in order to reduce its slope.

The north side of the main street should be completely dug out by tomorrow, and then the Downer team will turn around and dig out the south side. After that it gets resurfaced and then it’s job done.

In the meantime, southbound traffic is being diverted through the Woollams Avenue car park while northbound traffic can use the street.

We’re aware the work is noisy and dusty, and that parking has been disrupted, but Downer is doing everything possible to keep disruption to a minimum and finish the work as quickly and efficiently as possible.

A water shutdown originally scheduled for overnight Thursday into Friday affecting the area around the junction of Wharf and Tiki roads has now been cancelled and will be rescheduled soon.

Welcome back to the Citizens’ Hall

A party to celebrate the reopening of the Coromandel Citizens’ Hall after its refurbishment last weekend was attended by more than 100 people.

Long-time residents rubbed shoulders with new arrivals and swapped stories about the old building, which dates from 1897.

One woman who had her 21st in the hall now wants to hold her upcoming 80th birthday party in the hall.

"Isn't this beautiful," Mayor Sandra Goudie said at the opening celebration. "Really, a job well done and congratulations to the contractors who accomplished this work, and thanks to the Bizarre Trust and the Lotteries Community Facilities fund for helping to pay for it."

The exterior weatherboards of the hall, which began life as St George’s Convent School, have been replaced, the original kauri and tawa floor replaced with salvaged matai, the old kitchen replaced with a modern commercial-grade kitchen and the two porches rebuilt to original specifications with new double-doors installed.

The first booking for the new-look old hall is a quiz night on 16 November to raise funds for Coromandel Town girl Ava Redfern who is being treated for leukaemia at Starship Hospital.

To book the hall, contact our Council’s service centre at 355 Kapanga Rd, call us on 07 868 0200, or email customer.services@tcdc.govt.nz.

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