WANTWOOD COMMUNITY ROOM
The Wantwood Community Room is a quaint, cosy room ideal for gatherings and groups and has an array of seating options, a meeting table and whiteboard for use. The room is off grid and heating is via a brand-new log fire which soon warms up the space.
We welcome use of the room by local groups and organisations for a gold coin donation per person. If you would like to use the log fire, just bring your own untreated wood. The space is ideal for groups of up to 20.
The historic Wantwood Community Room was built in 1919, one of three buildings built that year along with the Hillersden Hall and the Wairau Peace Memorial hall. The room was originally a School in the area ten minutes west of the township known as Wantwood.
In 1949, after falling rolls, the building was moved to the site of the new Wairau Valley School in Morse Street after the old school burned down. The Wantwood Room was used as a classroom for many years, then it became the school library.
The building was an integral part of the Wairau Valley School.
In later years, its use declined as new school buildings were built and acquired. In a controversial move, an appointed commissioner at the school decided to get rid of the building and gift it to a stamp group in Blenheim. The decision was fiercely contested by a group of locals determined to have our historic building stay in the valley where it belonged. The group formed the Wantwood Community Room Preservation Society and battled to keep it in the valley. In 2015, the Wantwood Room was moved to the site of the old tennis court alongside the school and now belongs to the community.
The Wantwood Community Room is the historic hub of Wairau Valley and has a digital collection of over 800 historic photos.
Our aim is to preserve the building and use it for community benefit as a place to gather and socialise, share information and
build community. It is ideal for art and craft groups, book clubs, courses, etc.
Our email is- Wantwoodroomtrust@gmail.com or contact us via our FB page- https://www.facebook.com/wantwoodroom
