Omiha Memorial Hall - Overview of Waiheke Island

Location) 2 Glen Brook Road, Omiha, Waiheke Island 1081

Phone) 372 7100 or 021 049 6444

Hours) Thursday, 1pm – 4pm

Hours) Saturday and Sunday, 9am – 1pm

Website) Omiha hall Website

History) Omiha Hall History

Socials) Omiha Memorial Hall Facebook

Parking) Their Carpark/Out Front

Wheelchair Access) Yes

Category) Hall

Toilet) Yes

Overview

The Omiha Memorial Hall also known as Rocky bay hall was originally built by the Omiha Welfare and Recreation Society soon after world war II in around the 1950’s.

The hall is the hub of Waiheke Island’s Rocky Bay community, hosting a pop-up café most weekends and a popular venue for organisations holding meetings, as well as being ideal for social functions, concerts, private gatherings, plays, exercise classes, and children’s groups, and is a popular stop for island wide cultural events.”

The hall can accommodate up to a maximum of 80 people, and offers a full kitchen, heat pump, comfortable seating, trestle tables and an outdoor area which can be arranged to suit the occasion.

The Omiha Welfare and Recreation Society was founded in 1932 to serve the needs of the then-new community of Omiha (Rocky Bay) on Waiheke Island. An original hall and meeting house at 2 Glenbrook Road was replaced in about 1950 with the present hall, which was renamed the Omiha Memorial Hall in the hope of obtaining government funding as a World War II memorial structure. The hall was extensively refurbished in 2005, to the original 1950 plans which had never been completely implemented.

For many decades, the Omiha Memorial Hall and the Rocky Bay Store across the street served as the social and commercial hub of the Omiha community. The store closed in 2002 and was extensively damaged the following year by fire, leaving the hall as the centre of the community — a service that the OWRS performs with energy and enthusiasm.