Band Rooms over the years.

On this page we have set out the history of the various Band Rooms that the band has occupied since it was founded in 1905 until the time the current Band Room was completed in April 2003.

When the Wellington Municipal Tramways Band was formed in 1905 the Band Committee and Members realised that a permanent practise area was desirable and so the "Dream" of a new band room was born.  After many years of planning and hard work with the assistance and support of the Tramway Corporation and the Tramways Union, the band's first band room was built. 

 Newtown Band room : 

The Band’s very first practise room was in the enormous (for its time) Tramway Corporation “Tram Barn” in Newtown which housed Wellington ’s fleet of tramcars. To the front of this building was an area of vacant land which, in the early 1920’s, was made available to the band by the Tramway Corporation for the construction of a band room. It is our understanding that the work was carried out by the bandsmen themselves with probable assistance and co-operation of the Tramway Corporation and the Tramway Union .

(N.B. When was this building completed?). 

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Unfortunately we do not have a photo of band room. 

We do have however have an early photo of the Tramways Band taken in the tram "Barn" which  was used as the very first practice room. 

It shows the band surrounded by tramcars and is a very historic photo.  

The Tramways Band continued to use this band room over the years and performed with distinction at many National band contests, as detailed under the section covering band contests.

Temporary Band Rooms at Ngaio :

Initially, practices were held in a variety of temporary establishments including the Ngaio Tennis Club pavilion, a church hall in Kenya Street and the Ngaio Town Hall . The band was grateful to the local community for this assistance, however the inadequacies of each of these halls made it a priority for the Band Committee to obtain more suitable, permanent premises to accommodate the requirements of the band.

When the RSA’s Ngaio and Johnsonville branches decided to amalgamate, the Ngaio RSA premises on the west side of the Ngaio Railway Station became available to lease. 

At the beginning they were shared with the Ngaio Scout group until the scouts moved to a hall on the eastern side of the rail track and the Band obtained “sole use” rights. This was to become our permanent home for many years.

R.S.A. Hall at Ngaio :

The band moved into this new home in 1964.   This was a new stage in the life of the band. They now had permanent premises and although at this time did not own the building they had long term occupation arrangements with the R.S.A and the future looked bright.

The R.S.A. hall resonated with band music for many years and under the baton of Norman Goffin developed into one of New Zealand ’s leading bands.

This band room served the Band well, but by the early 1970’s it was beginning to show it’s age, and lack of insulation meant it was very difficult to heat in the winter. In 1973 the then committee agreed that a new band room should be built and fund raising began in earnest.

The committee and members of the band had this "dream" of building a new band room and over the next few years organized a wide variety of money raising schemes. Early ventures included Meat Packs, Fish Packs, gambling nights, beer festivals, building construction teams, and raffles.

It wasn’t until the fourth labour government deregulated the railway system in 1988 that we were able to begin negotiations with a private company to purchase the freehold of the land that the old RSA building was sited on.

Unfortunately various committees over the years managed to fritter away quite a lot of the money that was originally set aside for the new hall so that by 1996 when the architectural plans were drawn and resource and neighbour consent was obtained, there was not enough money to proceed.

A small committee was established to raise funds specifically for the new band room.

The following was an article in the local paper Onslow Review dated 8th December 1998

"A campaign to raise $300,000 for new headquarters for the Wellington Brass Band gets under way in March.

Fundraising committee chairperson Jack Schaef says the building is falling into disrepair and no longer meets the band’s needs. The kitchen and  toilets are particularly bad. It’s got to the state where it’s being held up by borer holding hands."  Mr. Schaef says the band obtained resource consent several years ago to demolish the hall and build a new headquarters.  "But the band committee decided it had other priorities, so the consent lapsed."

While it awaits the council’s response, plans are being developed to raise money Mr. Schaef says a fundraising campaign will start in March.

Thanks to a hard working dedicated fund raising committee headed by Jack Schaef and a lot of hard work by our band committee together with the  assistance from the lottery’s commission, the Wellington City Council and various other organisations the band room was completed to the joy and satisfaction of all concerned.  

We would like to acknowledge the main contributors on the band building fund committee :

Inaugural Meeting 16 July 1998

Jack Schaef Chair, Morris Robertson Architect, Mike Sander Scribe

Gordon Jenkins Band Representative, other members, Bill Kelso, Gordon McArthur, Richard Kilkenny, Ken Boyden, Philip Liner, Peter Sander, David Squire, Craig Stewart

THE LAST POST — The Evening Post Wellington Brass Band member Bryan Fergusson plays the cornet in front of what remains of the band’s old clubrooms in Ngaio today. By Monday, the building will be completely demolished to make way for a new one. Seven years of fundraising, sponsorship and grants from charitable trusts raised the $220,000 needed for the new building. 

The clubrooms were cleared a week ago and last Monday neighbours and band supporters were treated to an informal concert as a tribute to the building, home to the band for the past 37 years. Mr. Fergusson, from Karori, is one of about 30 members, some of whom come from as far away as Levin and Masterton to practice in the rooms every Wednesday evening. The band also has a 30-strong youth section. 

During construction of the new building, expected to take about six months, members will practice at Titan Hutt City Brass Band’s rooms in Lower Hutt.
Picture: JOHN NICHOLSON


New Band Rooms at Ngaio :

       Wellington Brass Band Room :

This is a photo of the band room taken prior to the official opening and as you can see it is a magnificent structure and a credit  to all those concerned.

It is wired for "sound". It is gas heated, has a fan ventilation system, magnificent kitchen and toilet facilities. 

After many trials and tribulations the new band room was completed and was officially opened by   Mayor  Kerry Prendergast on Saturday 5^th of April 2003.  >

In donating his valuable time and experience the architect,  Morris Robertson has made a substantial contribution to the early completion of the building. The band would like to say”Thank you" Morris for your generosity.

Gordon Jenkins who owns his own building business has been a playing member of the Band since 1958 and has served many years on the band committee. Of all the contributions Gordon has given the band over the years none is as significant as his undertaking in building the band room and assisting in its design. On behalf of the entire band we would like to acknowledge his efforts and to say "Thank you" Gordon for all the time and effort you have put in to building this magnificent band room, it is a credit to you.

Have a look at some photos taken during construction :

                                                                  click here --