Waimairi County Council chairman W.J. Walter laid the foundation stone of the Papanui Memorial Hall and Library on 8 June 1922. The building was formally opened on 2 April 1923. A memorial tablet set into the exterior was inscribed with the names of 38 men from the district who had given their lives.
The hall was demolished in 1978. A war memorial reserve was established on the site, with the memorial tablets placed in its grounds. When the reserve was redeveloped in 1997, they were placed on a low memorial wall instead (with the hall’s original foundation stone on the reverse).
The reserve was redeveloped again in 2004. A brass plaque recognizing the partnership of the Shirley/Papanui Community Board and the Papanui RSA in developing the Papanui Memorial Reserve was unveiled nearby in April 2004.
A roll of honour in the Papanui RSA Memorial Rose Garden within the reserve lists the names of a further 49 ex-servicemen and women from the Second World War and later wars.
See: ‘Papanui War Memorial’, Press, 10/4/1922, p. 5; ‘Papanui War Memorial: Unveiling Ceremony’, Press, 2/4/1923, p. 14; Christine Grant, Papanui’s Town Halls 1881-1978 and Libraries, Papanui, 2009.
| Site | Style | Ornamentation | Unveiling Date | No of Dead |
| Intersection | Hall | 1-Apr-1923 | 42 |
Francis Vallance, 2010; additional text and photographs: Bruce Ringer, 2017