Changes Over Time: Memorial Hall

Memorial Hall was built as a memorial to those staff and students who lost their lives during the Great War, 1914-1918, but also acknowledges the losses sustained during the South African War (Boer War) 1899-1902, and World War Two, 1939-1945. It was planned and constructed in the early 1920s and completed in 1924. It was designed by the architect Cecil Wood and built as an extension to the Ivey Hall west wing at Canterbury Agricultural College. By the 1950s the hall was too small to accommodate College functions as a whole, but since then it has been used for university events including Ra Whakamana and other ceremonies and presentations. The 2010 and 2011 Canterbury Earthquakes damaged the building to the extent that it was closed and it now awaits restoration.