Matamata-Piako Civic and Memorial Centre

Matamata-Piako Civic and Memorial Centre

The Matamata-Piako Civic and Memorial Centre is a purpose-built multi-purpose venue on Tainui Street in Matamata, Waikato, owned and operated by Matamata-Piako District Council. It opened to the public on 19 March 2018 and was built to meet the current and future needs of the Matamata community, which makes it one of the newer public function venues in the district.

### Spaces and capacities

The centre publishes clear capacity information across four hireable spaces:

• Memorial Hall - 29 m by 14 m, maximum capacity 350. Around 300 can be comfortably seated at tables in conference or banquet style, or 350 seated theatre style. The hall can be divided into two rooms, Te Taurapa and Te Takere.
• Te Taurapa Room - 18 m by 14 m, maximum capacity 270, with 180 comfortably seated at tables or 250 theatre style.
• Tainui Room - suited to smaller meetings, with 25 seated at tables conference style or 40 theatre style.
• Te Tauihu Room - a small meeting room with a meeting table and chairs, comfortably seating four to six people.

That spread is genuinely useful for conference organisers: a divisible main hall for plenary sessions or dinners, a mid-sized room for a second stream, and two small rooms for syndicate work, interviews or a committee meeting.

### Catering and kitchen

A kitchen adjoins the main hall and is suitable for serving or reheating food, which supports catered functions delivered by an external supplier. The Tainui Room has access to a small kitchenette suitable for tea and coffee service or receiving delivered catering - practical for day meetings and training courses.

### Booking and facilities

Bookings are handled through the council, with an online booking platform used for availability and reservations. Published detail on in-house audio-visual equipment and parking is limited; council material has also noted a stage for the civic centre as a possible future investigation rather than an existing feature, so organisers with staging, projection or sound requirements should confirm what is provided and what must be hired in.

### Suitability

With a divisible 350-capacity hall, tiered room sizes, adjoining kitchen facilities and a modern building, the Matamata-Piako Civic and Memorial Centre suits conferences, seminars, training days, awards dinners, expos, AGMs, community meetings and weddings in the eastern Waikato. It is a straightforward, well-specified council venue rather than a full-service conference centre. See also Waikato venues.