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Standing proud on Tuakau’s main street, the Tuakau War Memorial Hall remains a key part of the town.
On September 15, 1924, the Tuakau War Memorial Hall at 70 George Street was opened. The large and dignified neo-classical building was built of reinforced concrete with brick facings. It included a theatre, council chambers and offices, and a returned soldiers’ club and reading room.
The First World War roll of honour was placed inside the new hall – its former home was the
Tuakau Town Hall. In 1929, a bronze memorial plaque listing the names of 33 men who had
given their lives was also installed beside the front entrance.
After the Second World War, a granite plaque with a further six names was added at the
front entrance. Some years later, a roll of honour listing all local men who had served
in the Second World War or Korea was placed inside the hall.
The hall was substantially renovated in 1998, reopened by the then-Franklin Mayor Heather
Maloney on November 28. Both rolls of honour were reconsecrated at the time – the Second World War roll had been updated with the names of two men who had served in
Vietnam, one of whom, Private T Cooper, had died in action.
Each Anzac Day, the town’s residents gather outside the hall to hold a service, with a bugler playing the Last Post from the balcony.
In 2024, the hall was refurbished again.
Today, the hall is made up of a variety of rooms including the main hall, foyer, kitchen,
supper hall, supper room, kitchen, meeting room, male and female toilets, mezzanine
spectator gallery and the original council chamber room.
The hall is managed by the Waikato District Council with bookings made through its offices in Tuakau.
