Save the Dom Polski

The ‘Dom Polski’ (Polish House) at 257 Riddiford Street, Newtown has served as the physical and spiritual home of the Wellington Polish community since the mid-1960s.

In that time, it has served the community faithfully, hosting an uncountable number of performances, dinners, lunches, dances, fairs, meetings and get-togethers. It has hosted many offshoot Polish clubs (Bridge Clubs, Chess Clubs, Youth Clubs etc..), as well as being the home for the Wellington Polish School for many years.

Through the years it has also served as a home for many other ethnic and community groups - it has truly become a central feature of the Newtown and Wellington cultural landscape.

Like many buildings in Wellington, today the building desperately needs earthquake strengthening and renovation, or alternately a total rebuild. We have until 2027 to rectify, but as we all know, that time will pass very quickly.

What Will it Cost?

Our preliminary estimates suggest that the cost for strengthening alone will be over $1M. And the cost for renovation or rebuild substantially more than that.

Thanks mostly to a generous bequest by a late member of the Polish community, we have sufficient funds to undertake a due diligence of the various options available to us. This due diligence exercise is now underway.

But we will need many more funds before this project is complete.