The trust behind Kihikihi’s Alpha Hotel believes it is being thwarted to more funding for extensive restoration on the historic building because of its ownership structure.
Kihikihi’s iconic Alpha Hotel, a popular stop on SH3. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
If the hotel had Waipā District Council’s clout, Alpha Restoration Trust chair Bill Harris believes funding to complete the work and develop the former hotel into a community hub would quickly follow.
“Ideally, it’s a property that the council should own,” Harris told The News.
“At the moment it’s still under private ownership, so we can’t do big renovations because we can’t get big funders. But there is hope for it, hope for a community hub.”
Work on the hotel started two years ago after former Auckland city councillor and National MP, Arthur Anae, gifted it on the proviso that it was used for the community.
The 30-year lease is set at a peppercorn rate, renewable every 10 years.
Harris believes if the council bought the hotel from the trust, doors would open on new sources of funding and further revenue could be raised by developing land behind the hotel.
Margaret Johnson and Bill Harris outside the Alpha Hotel. Photo: Roy Pilott
“If the council owned the property and the community trust had the building, then we could apply for Lotto funding, for example. As long as it’s under private ownership, we can’t do anything like that.
“It has quite a bit of land at the back so there could easily be flats built there. The council could, effectively, run a community hub out of the hotel and sell off the property development at the back.”
The trust is working on a concept plan.
“Council had agreed in its last long-term plan to conduct a feasibility study on a community hub for Kihikihi. As we understand it, the study has been completed so we’ve been chasing them for it.”
The hotel opened in 1867 and is registered by the Historic Places Trust as a Category Two building. Time was called for the last time in the early 2000s. Since then, the Alpha has been a second-hand furniture shop and even played host to ladies of the evening.
Alpha Hotel, Kihikihi
Alpha Hotel
Progress towards restoring the hotel to its former glory, rather than infamy, has been made but there is more to be done.
“We’ve been tidying up downstairs to make it a little bit more presentable,” Harris said.
“People may have seen some of the work that the RSA boys have been doing on the outside. They’ve been fixing the broken windows downstairs and floorboards. Hopefully, before too much longer because of the weather, they’ll paint the bottom storey.”
One major element has recently needed a little historic knowledge from some ‘bright sparks.’
“We’re checking wiring at the moment and old wiring in an old building can cause major problems. All of the fire alarms were taken off when the building wasn’t being used – we’ve reconnected the power to put in new fuses. We’re now checking the smoke detectors and alarms to make sure everything is safe.”
As the project has been reliant on funding, there’s no set timeline for completion just yet. However, time is needed to do the old girl justice.
“It’s been a lot of work,” Harris added.
“The aim would be to open as soon as we can, but it’ll take however long it has to take to do a good job.”
Kihikihi’s iconic Alpha Hotel, a popular stop on SH3. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Alpha Hotel, Kihikihi
