Former Logan Park Art Gallery talks

This week (ODT 5.10.09), reporter Chris Morris highlighted the Dunedin City Council proposal to remove the former art gallery building from the edge of the University Oval cricket ground in Dunedin. Councillors attending the community development committee meeting on Tuesday considered a report on the removal of the former gallery building in the closed section of the meeting. ODT Link

Note: Removal of the building is only one of the options on the council table.

Let’s not forget that current use of Logan Park itself includes active and passive recreation; this should not be lost sight of in any new development plans for ‘organised sport’ at the park.

Further, there’s no good reason to cut down the avenue of mature trees on Logan Park Drive.

Maintaining a watching brief… After all, this council of its own volition suddenly ‘closed’ a public road (again) this week – John Wilson Ocean Drive – upsetting citizens. The story broke on Channel 9 news on 6 October, with follow up the next day in Otago Daily Times.

Oh, and… A fence at Lawyers Head? Get real. What about coastal landscape values – I’ll say it, views to die for must be maintained and access not obstructed.

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Entry on Heritage New Zealand’s List:

Exhibition Art Gallery (Former)
40 Logan Park Drive, DUNEDIN

List No: 2149

Registration Type: Historic Place – Category I
Region: Otago Region
Date Registered: 30/06/2006
City/District Council: Dunedin City Council

Other Names: Dunedin Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery (Former), Logan Park Art Gallery, New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition Art Gallery (Former), NZ and South Seas Exhibition Art Gallery (Former), Old Art Gallery

Status Explanation: Review of registration confirmed BD2006/06/24.

Links: http://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/1131.pdf – Royal Exhibition Building Australia No.1131, p.20

Brief History: The Exhibition Art Gallery was built as the art gallery for the 1925 New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition in Dunedin. The World Fairs and Exhibitions were among the largest gatherings of people of all time, and they ranked amongst the most important events held in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most exhibition buildings and sites were designed to be temporary, and there are, therefore, relatively few structures remaining. The Gallery appears to be the only surviving in situ exhibition building from any of the exhibitions held in New Zealand, and is also a significant survivor in the international history of exhibitions. This gives the Gallery outstanding historical significance.

The Gallery was designed by prominent Dunedin architect Edmund Anscombe (1874-1948). Anscombe was the originator of the idea to hold the exhibition in Dunedin, and was appointed official architect to the Exhibition committee in June 1924. Anscombe designed and supervised the lay out and construction of all seven of the exhibition pavilions. The building was symmetrically laid out with a large central exhibition hall from which two ambulatory circuits via the ten smaller galleries on either side of it were accessed. Each gallery was linked to its neighbour via decorative plaster archways.
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Our posts recommence…

Elizabeth’s computer hard drive suffered near meltdown last week and was taken in for service (repair and upgrade) at SCL Ltd, Dunedin – they’ve done an excellent job.

Sorry about the lack of new posts and background editorial services due to interim loss of internet connection.

We’re back up and running. Tonight and over the weekend we’ll be posting new material on stadium subjects and dipping into various topical issues for the hell of it.

Some interesting comments at What if? in the last while on farming practices and the potential of accreditation; wine&food festivals and New Zealand drinking culture, local and overseas role models, and where France is definitely losing the plot (plonk?)

I doubt much thought, as yet, has gone into how the stadium will manage events and alcohol consumption, other than to see alcohol sales as a source of revenue (assuming all stadium goers aren’t pissheads and crowd control is a piece of cake…).

Let’s see how David Davies approaches local “culture” as the new chief executive responsible for managing the Otago stadium and the Dunedin and Edgar Centres.

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BROADCAST ALERT

Radio New Zealand National 101FM
Sunday Morning with Chris Laidlaw… radionz.co.nz/sunday

11 October 2009

9:06 Mediawatch
In Mediawatch this week: TVNZ says it can’t afford to screen the Commonwealth Games, but Maori TV’s secured public money to show the Rugby World Cup. Meanwhile, the Broadcasting Minister has said we should no longer expect full coverage of top sports events on TV for free. So which sports event should we expect on TV for free in the future? Mediawatch also looks at a media squabble on the sidelines of Maori TV’s World Cup bid – and asks if efforts to foster diversity in our newsrooms are finally paying off in the coverage of Samoa’s tsunami.
Produced and presented by Colin Peacock and Jeremy Rose.

Audio Ogg Vorbis MP3

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

New CE for Dunedin Venues Management Ltd

### ODT Online Thu, 8 Oct 2009
Excitement of Dunedin stadium lures Welshman
By Chris Morris

The Welshman head-hunted to manage the Forsyth Barr Stadium says Dunedin is yet to realise the pulling power of the new venue. David Davies (50) is expected in Dunedin next month to take up his new role, which was confirmed after a four-month international search, consideration of 92 candidates and shoulder-tapping by recruitment company Sheffield.
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### ODT Online Wed, 7 Oct 2009
DCC appoints chief executive for stadium

Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin today announced the appointment of a new chief executive to manage the stadium and other council-owned venues. Welshman David Davies would be in charge of the newly created Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML), that oversees the $198 million Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin and Edgar Centres.
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Post by Elizabeth Kerr

OBHS keen to utilise stadium, no surprises there…

### ODT Online Tue, 6 Oct 2009
Stadium taking shape
By David Loughrey

Work on the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin is progressing…There was also a positive signal for the stadium yesterday with the Otago Boys High School Foundation booking the facility for the school’s sesquicentennial event in August 2013.
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Post by Elizabeth Kerr