[3] By this time the building was owned by Stanley Burns, who ran a tailoring business and a share-dealing company.
[2] Burns engaged South African-born architect Cecil Gardner Dunning for the extension, and had the second storey fitted out as a beauty salon.
[2] The salon closed in 1937, and when Burns ran into financial difficulties, the hall was sold to the Otago Pioneer Women's Memorial Association in 1941.
The change was made after newly elected councillors decided women "had no business wanting to go to meetings and their place was in the home".
[4] Undeterred, Siedeberg-McKinnon formed, and became the inaugural president of, the Otago Pioneer Women's Memorial Association in March 1939.
[5] Users of the building at this time included the Red Cross Choir, East Otago Federation Women's Institute, children's art classes, and a monthly creative market.