Murupara’s Rangitahi Marae receives $150k for upgrade, hoping to tap into tourism opportunities

Extensive work is under way at Rangitahi Marae in Murupara to upgrade its wharekai (dining hall).

Extensive work is under way at Rangitahi Marae in Murupara to upgrade its wharekai (dining hall), with hopes it will attract more tourists, conferences and private functions once complete.

BayTrust says it has contributed $156,105 from its Community Amenities Fund to buy new tables and chairs and build a solid shelter across pathways to protect people from the elements.

Marae chairman John Toe Toe said there was an “extreme” amount of stuff to do to modernise and equip the 43-year-old facility.

“On big occasions we can seat 300 people in there. We can actually cater for thousands of people if we have more than one sitting.”

While weddings, birthday celebrations and tangi are often held on site, Toe Toe said tourism was providing a growing income stream and the marae was keen to hire out its facilities for conferences and other community events.

“Local award-winning tourism venture Kohutapu Lodge is bringing people to our marae to look at modern Māori practices in an authentic way.

Extensive work is underway at Rangitahi Marae in Murupara to upgrade their wharekai (dining hall).

“Sometimes we have overnight stays with different tourist groups so providing a meal is really important,” Toe Toe said.

“We would like to host more New Zealanders here too because there are a lot of great things about Murupara. We had six buses a week coming into the area before Covid. Since then, we’ve had four or five buses a week. The numbers aren’t huge yet but it’s growing.”

In addition to new plumbing and electrical wiring, all new cooking equipment will be bought to help efficiently cater for large crowds without it being as labour-intensive as in the past.

Rangitahi Marae wharekai before the upgrades started.

Toe Toe said the extra funding from BayTrust was greatly appreciated and the project management team was “over the moon” to receive the financial support.

“You wouldn’t believe how happy we are. When we spoke about the money coming in from BayTrust there was amazement.

“We hoped that we would get some money but the amount they gave us … well, there was so much happiness and gratitude.”

BayTrust chief executive Alastair Rhodes said the refurbishment of Rangitahi Marae’s wharekai would make a real difference to the Murupara community for generations to come.