We've been talking to the community about what happens to the Town Hall since it closed in 2016. In that time we have run engagment surveys, Annual Plans, and Long Terms Plans asking for your feedback. Check out the brief timeline below that shows how we got here.

In late 2017 we asked the community what they wanted to do with the Town Hall. The majority of people (about two-thirds) wanted a new building.

• 220 people responded
• 65.1% wanted to build a new facility
• 34.9% wanted to strengthen the exisiting building

We asked for your feedback again in the 2018-28 Long-Term Plan and proposed three options:

• Build a new facility
• Strengthen the existing building
• Don't replace the town hall.

In this engagement:

• 114 people responded
• 59% supported a new building and the $15.5 million capital investment
• 27% said they would prefer to see Council strengthen the existing building
• 14% of people said do not replace the building.

As a result of the consultation Masterton District Council decided:

Over the 2019-20 summer, we asked Masterton what the must-haves are for a shared community facility, and whether people were willing to pay for it.

• 1067 people responded
• 51% said they were willing to pay up to an extra $200 per year in rates for the next 20 years
• 28% said they were not willing to pay
• 21% said they didn't know.

We also asked about the facade:

• 37% of people said they were willing to pay to keep the facade
• 42% said they were not willing to pay
• 21% said they didn't know.

The things that people said were important in a civic facility were:

• Spaces for concerts and plays
• Meeting room facilities
• Arts and exhibition space
• A cafe
• Outdoor space

We started developing plans for a multi-purpose community facility. In mid 2020, Councillors visited a range of different venues to find out what is possible and learn what worked for similar projects across the lower North Island.

As part of the 2021-31 Long-Term Plan survey we asked what 'big things' we should focus on that would make a difference for Masterton.

• 559 people responded
• 51% of people agreed that we should focus on delivering a Civic Facility.

The Council agreed to build a new Civic Facility using $26.8m from loan funds and a remaining $4m from external sources.

By 2022 the forecast cost had grown to $70m. Councillors decided this was unaffordable, and the project was put on hold.

We asked about the Civic Facility again in the 2023/24 Annual Plan consultation.

• 852 people responded
• 46% wanted to demolish the Town Hall, build a new hall on the current site, retain the facade and expand Waiata House
• 51% wanted to demolish the Town Hall and not replace it, retain Waiata House and the Queen Street Customer Service Centre
• 3% wanted to demolish the Town Hall, build a new hall on the current site, keep the facade and retain Waiata House.

Elected members decided to break the Civic Facility project into separate projects:

• Demolish the existing Town Hall
• Develop a new Town Hall on the old site
• Extend Waiata House
• Refurbish and extend the Library.

The Library project is now underway, expected to open in Spring 2027.

Town Hall demolition began in October 2025 and is expected to finish in the first half of 2026. The space will become a temporary extension of the Town Square while plans are made for a new facility.

The decision was made to leave Waiata House as it is and the Queen Street office was purchased, this will be redeveloped with an accessible Council chamber and EOC space in 2026.