For more than a century now, the ancestral house of Taumaihiorongo of Kākāhi Marae has stood in the Ngāti Tūwharetoa region and just recently the marae's new dining hall and ablution blocks were officially opened for the people of Ngāti Manunui.
According to Napa Otini, “The Ministry of Health standards did not approve of the dining hall conditions, so we decided to construct a new one in celebration of our marae's 100th year.”
A spokesman for Stanley Ltd, responsible for undertaking the contract to renovate buildings on Kākāhi Marae said that the goals in which the marae set two years ago have now come to fruition.
Craig Cristie from Stanley Ltd says, “The highlight is seeing all the whānau here and seeing that their dreams have been embodied. People doubted these buildings, but they stand here today.”