A club is more than bricks and mortar, but that won't stop a sense of sadness when the flag is lowered for the last time tomorrow on Tauranga RSA's unpretentious old clubrooms.
It was never going to be an easy transition for a 93-year-old club.
The ceremony will mark the end of a process that started nearly four years ago when members were asked to think about the long-term viability of the club.
On Thursday, a new era begins in the modern surroundings of what was Fahy's Motor Inn on Cameron Rd.
Tauranga RSA manager Graham Howard said the club executive had been pleasantly surprised by the positive attitude of members to the RSA buying Fahys.
However the journey had been long and involved.
"We looked at so many options and heard so many suggestions."
Fahy's had been mentioned as an option on a couple of occasions, and the idea evolved from there.
Sunday's closing ceremony begins at 4.30pm, with speeches by club president John Holden and other invited guests.
Life members will then lead everyone out to the cenotaph where the flag will be lowered for the last time at 5pm, followed by the bugler playing the retreat.
A new cenotaph, yet to be built in the carpark behind the new club, will be dedicated on August 9. It will hold the marble memorial panels originally fixed to Tauranga's former town hall, before they were shifted to the current cenotaph.
The fate of the propeller of the ex-Wellington tug Taioma, which saw active service with the British Royal Navy in World War II, has been decided in conjunction with the Owens Family Trust.
Erected outside the RSA as a memorial to the role merchant seamen played in the war effort, it will be shifted to Marine Reserve at Sulphur Point and re-dedicated in September. The re-dedication will be part of commemorations of the 10th anniversary of the death of former Tauranga and Mount Maunganui mayor and businessman Sir Robert (Bob) Owens.
Tauranga RSA's old club has been bought by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board which takes possession on January 1.
Board Chairwoman Mary Hackett said said the hospital had started hiring some rooms for meetings, but could not start refurbishment until it took possession. It was to become a base for community-based health services.
The RSA's sale agreement partly protects the interests of residents living in pensioner flats behind the clubhouse.
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