DCC: Councillors delegated street furniture decisions to staff

Peter Entwisle says “some principles need teasing out: CONTEXT, AUTHENTICITY, FLEXIBILITY and TRUE EXCEPTIONALITY”

[transpressnz.blogspot.com]

### ODT Online Mon, 11 Nov 2013
Opinion
Rearranging the street furniture
By Peter Entwisle
Dunedin is adopting a new generation of street furniture. It’s happened before with varying results and we should try to do better this time.
Read more

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Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Free Parking – for Cycles
This item was published on 19 Jun 2012.
The rollout of 56 new cycle stands around the city is almost complete. The sites are high demand and high profile areas that were identified in consultation with community boards and cycling groups.
There are two types of stand – 46 basic U-shaped stainless steel stands, and two sets of five stands that, when installed, spell ‘cycle’. The stands were designed in-house and manufactured by local business Identimark with some parts of the manufacturing process undertaken in Auckland.
Read more

16.7.11 ODT More cyclists than a year ago: survey
Dunedin will spend $20,000 on 70 cycle stands for central city sites over the next two years.

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Bicycle Management
Dunedin City Council: Cycle stands, hitching rails and facilities
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/services/cycling/cycle-stands

University of Otago, Property Services: Cycling & Cycle Racks
http://www.propserv.otago.ac.nz/services/parkingcyclerack.html

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Related Posts and Comments:
8.11.13 Dunedin Separated Cycle Lane Proposal
5.11.13 DCC, NZTA: Cycle lanes controversy
19.10.13 Cycle lobby games and media tilts
24.9.13 Mediocrity and lack of critical awareness at DCC [council reports]
8.7.13 Bloody $tupid cycleways and Cull’s electioneering . . . [route maps]
28.3.13 DCC DAP 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements
26.2.13 DCC binge spending alert: Proposed South Dunedin cycle network
22.2.13 DCC: Council meeting agenda and reports for 25 February 2013
31.1.13 Who? 2010 electioneering
21.11.12 Safe cycling -Cr Fliss Butcher

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin housing: building up or Brown-like sprawl #intensification #costlyinfrastructure

There was a risk that Government intervention could actually drive up house prices in Dunedin.

### ODT Online Wed, 12 Jun 2013
DCC seeks changes to housing Bill
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council could be forced to open up land for development – sidestepping long-term council planning in the process – as part of a Government push to bring down house prices. The concern was raised at yesterday’s planning and environment committee meeting, as Dunedin city councillors discussed a council submission on the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill. The Bill, which is before a parliamentary select committee, would allow the Government to create ”special housing areas” in parts of New Zealand deemed to have significant housing affordability problems. Councils would be able to enter into accords with the Government to create the new zones but, if they resisted, the Bill would give the Government the power to force the creation of the new areas.

The council had been given just 10 working days from May 16 to respond, which was “completely insufficient” to allow councils and the public to assess and provide detailed feedback on the Bill, it said. ”In our view, these consultation time frames raise serious concerns about the democratic nature of our legislative process and New Zealand’s system of representative government.”

And, while the Bill appeared aimed primarily at Auckland, Dunedin could also qualify for one of the new housing areas, city councillors were warned. Dunedin could be deemed in need of a special housing area, based on criteria proposed under the Bill, council city strategy and development general manager Sue Bidrose told the meeting. That was largely because of the high population of students and the elderly, whose economic circumstances skewed the city’s housing affordability results, the council’s submission said.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
2.4.13 Dunedin: Developers stoop to resource consents…
29.3.13 Reykjavik, Iceland: The strongest mirror [speculative apartments]
3.3.13 RNZ Sunday Morning | Ideas: Re-imagining the Urban House
29.10.12 Govt to open up more land for houses
29.8.12 Beloved Prime Minister ‘Jonkey’ speaking #childpoverty
14.4.12 How perverse is the New Zealand housing market?
17.2.12 Salvation Army: The Growing Divide
2.2.10 “Tax codes, zoning, community boards, and financing…”
8.12.11 interest.co heats NZ housing debate – listen up
23.11.11 Last night, did John Key watch Inside New Zealand (TV3)…
26.10.11 2011 Voices of Poverty: Research into poverty in Dunedin
26.12.10 New Zealand housing, a sorry tale

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In early 1937 the government provided new loan money for councils to build new dwellings to help meet a chronic housing shortage. The aim was to provide an affordable alternative to the government’s state-rental scheme. Dunedin was among the councils that took advantage of the measure, building hundreds of dwellings for private sale in suburban Clyde Hill. The first three houses were opened by Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage in September 1937.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/document/32437/dunedin-houses-opened

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: Dunedin housing (detail) [ODT files]

Portobello Road Consultation —Public Meeting | Monday 13 May

Here is the latest web update for the Portobello Community.

This week we look at the road widening project and the proposed changes that the City Council has made to the initial plan. The City Council will be giving the community another opportunity to have your say on the proposal and the changes they have made to the plan since the consultation period in March 2013. This is an important issue for our township and community and the meeting is to be held at 7:00 pm on Monday, 13 May 2013 at the Coronation Hall. Pass this message onto your friends, neighbours, colleagues and whanau.

Regards
Paul Pope – Chairman, Portobello Incorporated

● The meeting will be attended by council staff, Cr Jinty MacTavish, and Otago Peninsula Community Board members.

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Related Post and Comments:
28.3.13 | Updated 29.3.13
DCC Draft Annual Plan 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements Project

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC Draft Annual Plan 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements Project

Updated Post 29.3.13

Received yesterday by email.

Something that seems to have slipped the radar in Dunedin news of late is the WIDENING of Portobello Harington Point Road on the Otago Peninsula.

Looking at the Draft Annual Plan, the City Council intends to spend the following on what amounts to an environmental and heritage damaging folly. That’s only 33-34 % of the budget, given NZTA will subsidise the remaining 66-67% of the project.

[click on image to enlarge]

See page 24, Section 1 Group of Activities (PDF, 1.5 MB)
and page 142, Section 2 Financial Statements (PDF, 1.2 MB)

The road widening (including the Vauxhall and Macandrew Bay areas already completed) will reclaim nearly 11 hectares of the Otago Harbour — a conservative measurement given plans show significantly more reclamation if the topography requires it.

Consultation on the current design closed yesterday, Thursday 28 March, indicating approval of the plan is a given despite the consultation process for the Annual Plan this year and in years to come.

[29.3.13 – The plans are not available for viewing online, why not?]

There will be irrevocable damage to the Peninsula and Harbour landscape, heritage features and the ecology if this misguided piece of engineering continues.

It is feared the Council has the bit between its teeth on this project — described as being about “liveability”, according to Mayor Cull at the Portobello Annual Plan ‘roadshow’.

It might be worth pointing out to your readers that they look closely at the Draft Annual Plan in regards to this area of Council expenditure.

Searching Council for cost benefit and recreational analyses fails to show much other than what is in the June 2008 Cycle Strategy (PDF, 787 KB).

[See also: Dunedin’s Proposed Cycle Network, adopted August 2011]

Few will have problems with the desirability of access, but the lack of design sensitivity and impact on the values of the area seem inconsistent with the value of the Peninsula and Harbour to the community and our economy.

This is certainly an issue worth looking at more deeply.

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin, are you ‘of a mind’ to protect Historic Heritage?

Today ODT commences a new series about Dunedin’s historic heritage. The series continues on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Despite the concerns, the calls for a co-ordinated preservation and adaptive re-use plan have been growing, alongside residents’ anger when they see much-loved buildings tagged for demolition.

### ODT Online Sat, 19 Feb 2011
Dunedin heritage: boom to dust?
By David Loughrey
Dunedin’s stock of heritage buildings is facing a problem more threatening than the ravages of time and weather – a lack of demand. Those charged with finding ways to preserve the city’s acclaimed architecture say this is a major problem.
Read more

****

Image ©2011 Elizabeth Kerr

‘Money and taste, rather than historical or cultural significance, frequently determined which industrial sites survived.’

### ODT Online Sat, 19 Feb 2011
Bell tolling for Dunedin’s heritage
By Stu Oldham
Decades of neglect may have saved them but further decades of neglect could see their demise. The bell is tolling for many slowly crumbling warehouses, factories, workshops, and head offices in what used to be Dunedin’s waterfront business and industrial precinct. Historian Alexander Trapeznik, an associate professor at the University of Otago, says the buildings might be part of one of the most significant and under-valued mercantile heritage precincts in New Zealand. Prof Trapeznik says the precinct has been “overlooked” by the uninitiated, in part, because of the sometimes “myopic” view of built heritage that prevails in Dunedin. It was an “unbalanced view” that focused on “the ‘great’ – the great churches, public buildings, grand houses” and ultimately, the great people – rather than on the socially and economically important workplaces that helped finance them.

Read more + Area Map

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Cities: Wellington, or Dunedin?

I doubt the Dunedin stadium’s pulling power in attracting new residents. It’s ugly, it’s essentially redundant and its intimidating bulk will hinder people-friendly development of the surrounding area. –Meg Davidson

### ODT Online Mon, 27 Sep 2010
Let us, too, become the city of the verb, not expletive
By Meg Davidson
Dunedin resident Meg Davidson laments opportunities lost and asks if the city could follow Wellington’s lead.
Last month my daughter was lost to Dunedin. I was with her in Wellington, the new object of her affections, when she was seduced and I, a passionate Dunedinite, was seized by the same unexpected delight in the city I hadn’t visited for three decades.
Read more

****

We’re almost there, inside our final year – and nothing our dwindling band of critics say will deflect us from our primary purpose: to deliver, on time, on budget and fit for purpose, New Zealand’s first roofed, multipurpose performance venue and something all can be proud of. –Malcolm Farry

### ODT Online Mon, 27 Sep 2010
Something we can all be proud of
By Malcolm Farry
Carisbrook Stadium Trust chairman Malcolm Farry reflects on the journey towards building the “the best stadium in New Zealand”.
When I was asked in 2004 to lead an investigation into an upgrade for Carisbrook, the challenge was to investigate and recommend the best option that would produce most benefits to Dunedin and the region.
Read more

● Malcolm Farry is the chairman of Carisbrook Stadium Charitable Trust.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

design daily: preserving our heritage buildings

Why it’s imperative central government is involved in preserving our heritage buildings

Very interesting article by Dierdre Robert over at www.designdaily.co.nz which has quickly become one of my fav sites in NZ. There is always a great article to read there relevant to New Zealand, which lets face it has been difficult to come across in the past. Design Daily is an off shoot of Idealog magazine – which if you aren’t a subscriber to you should be.

“With the Government’s announcement that it will contribute $10 million in addition to local funding to assist with the repair, restoration and strengthening of heritage and character buildings in the Canterbury region, comes news that three buildings on Wellington’s Willis street—all over 100 years old—are being demolished, without any public notification.”

Full article here…

Post by Paul Le Comte

Electioneering in the ghetto

Signs are springing up in the most unlikely places.

Take this one on Saturday morning, 11 September, in the front yard of the historic turret house at 4 Pitt Street, Dunedin North.

According to Dunedin City Council the ratepayer is Pamela Marguerite McKellar, of Syke House Farm Holmfirth West Yorkshire, England. Not sure who manages the property in the owner’s absence.

Not long ago, a New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) registration plaque was afixed to the gatepost at the entry to the property.

Dunedin City District Plan
25.1 Townscape and Heritage Buildings and Structures
Site Number: B427
Map: 35
Item: House
Address: 4 Pitt Street
Legal Description: Sec 75 Blk XXIV Town of Dunedin
NZHPT Registration Number: 5233
NZHPT Category: II
Protection Required & Comments: facades and bulk appearance to Pitt and George Streets, excluding the garage in front.

Dunedin City District Plan – Chapter 13 Townscape
13.6 Heritage Precincts
13.6.2 Royal Terrace/Pitt Street/Heriot Row Heritage Precinct (Precinct Description, pages 13:31 – 13:32)

****

Cr Dave Cull chairs the DCC’s heritage buildings economic re-use steering committee. A fusty committee name at best but the committee is doing great work.

****

Temporary though it is, a pity to see a hoarding in the heritage precinct.
Not a vote catcher. This could have been an essay in praise of natural backlighting.

[A further pity to see the new (permanent) buildings at 11 Pitt Street arrive by stealth (non notified application in the heritage precinct; no neighbouring long-term tenants consulted as affected parties by the developers) – who on earth would care about heritage values and amenity in a district plan protected heritage precinct… or privacy, density, car parking, noise, rubbish, shading, incomplete landscaping, a broken and subverted boundary fence, or… After all, what are “neighbours” to the Auckland property developers and their builder son wanting to cream it here on the back of affluent Chinese students. The “iceberg” isn’t pretty enough to photograph – but it’s right here too, in the heritage precinct. One more thing. Mayor Chin is the ratepayer for the Auckland developer couple’s current abode; and it was Mayor Chin that influenced the rushed consent without consultation of the affected parties. A much longer story not able to be published here.]

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Election signage
The District Plan describes the rules around signs on public or private property. If your sign does not comply with the restrictions, you will need to apply for resource consent.

Election Signage Policy 2010 (PDF, 1.4mb, open in new window)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Note: I haven’t decided who to vote for in the local body elections. Preferences will centre on a balance of issues as well as the best determination it’s possible to make on candidate leadership, experience, financial prowess and direction. Hard, isn’t it.

No temporary cover: historic Stavely Building of Dunedin

One of Dunedin’s finest ‘stately’ warehouse buildings is waiting to be saved.
From the archives…

### ODT Online Mon, 24 Aug 2009
Energy-saver bulb likely fire cause
By Debbie Porteous
A fire which severely damaged one of Dunedin’s historic buildings last year most likely started in a light fixture fitted with an energy-saver bulb, a fire service investigation has found. The Stavely Building in Jetty St, built in 1897*, was left uninhabitable after the March 30 fire. In addition to the damage to the building, several businesses, including the Dunedin Ballet School, a storage firm and a curtain maker, lost all or most of their equipment and stored goods. A joint police and fire investigation took place as there were reports of the premises being insecure when the fire was discovered.
Read more

Since the March 2008 fire the building hasn’t been temporarily roofed or weather sealed. However, according to unnamed sources the building is structurally viable for conservation, restoration and adaptive reuse options. Sources say the owner is looking to sell the fire damaged building.

*The building is significantly older than the date given by the newspaper.

****

Local historian and curator Peter Entwisle provides a history of the building based on documentary sources. Photographs by Meg Davidson, Dunedin.

Location: Southwest corner of Bond St and Jetty St, 5 Jetty St, Dunedin.
Legal Description: Lot 16 Deeds 135
Owner: POS Developments Limited, Dunedin
Architect: Nathaniel Young Armstrong Wales (1832-1903) [1]
Built: April 1878 [2] to 1879 [3]
Name: Stavely’s Bond. [4]
Materials: First floor Port Chalmers breccia; brick rendered in plaster above; slate roof.

Description:
A boldly modelled commercial warehouse in a neo-classical style, the Stavely Building commands the southwest corner of Bond St and Jetty St. Its lower floor constructed of rusticated Port Chalmers breccia was originally unpainted and of a warm, milk chocolate colour. It is particularly finely textured with its contrasting dressed and unfinished surfaces constituting a tour de force of the mason’s craft. This exceptional quality and the stone’s natural colour were obscured when it was painted some years ago.

The first floor windows on the street fronts are pedimented and like those of the second floor are set between pilasters with Corinthian capitals. Above, there are high entablatures; below, cornices capped by balustrades. At the centre of each there were large triple shell-form pediments bearing the original proprietor’s name in large letters, in a rustic Victorian font, raised in high relief. The shells were originally supported by heraldic dolphins and those on Jetty St survive. On Bond St only the base of the shell remains.

Each street front carries the date “1879” in high relief at the centre of the ground floor. Intended to make a strong statement about vigour, prosperity and confidence the building is a cornerpiece and a landmark and represents the upper level of achievement in Victorian warehouse design in New Zealand.

The prominent use of heraldic beasts and figures and lettering as part of the ornamentation facades is unusual in New Zealand in the Victorian period. Two other buildings designed by the same partnership near this time also exhibit this feature: the Garrison Hall in Dowling St, now the premises of Natural History New Zealand Ltd [recently sold to property investor William Cockerill, Dunedin], for which Mason, Wales and Stevenson called for tenders in February 1878 [5]; and Wain’s Hotel on Princes St, started a few days after the Stavely building. [6]

Recent history:
On Sunday 30 March 2008, the building suffered a major fire, thought to be arson. It did considerable damage and was widely reported, on TV3 national news that night and in the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday editions of the Otago Daily Times. There was no loss of life and it was brought under control. By Wednesday 2 April the Otago Southland area manager of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust had been advised that the building did not need to be demolished as a safety risk. [7]

NZHPT Registration:
Category 2 Historic Place – List No. 4752 [8]

Protections:
The building is scheduled in the Dunedin City District Plan (April 2004); the Bond St and Jetty St facades are protected. [9]

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Footnotes:
[1] ODT 8 March 1878 p.3f. “Tenders are invited till Noon of Monday 18th inst., for the erection of a four storey stone and brick Warehouse at corner of Bond and Jetty Streets. Mason, Wales, & Stevenson, Architects.” In a telephone call to the writer on 13/3/09 Niel Wales, formerly of the partnership Mason & Wales and a descendant of Nathaniel Young Armstrong Wales (1832-1903), first of that name in the partnership, said the latter was the designer of Stavely’s Bond. He said the firm has drawings of many buildings from that time including this one; that they are not signed but he can tell from their style who drew them. He said his ancestor was also personally responsible for Wain’s Hotel, the Garrison Hall, the Princes Street building which is now Hayward’s auction house and the former New Zealand Insurance Co. building on the corner of Crawford and lower Rattray Streets.
[2] ODT 12 April 1878 p3b “Building Improvements in the City” states that “Mr. Stavely’s” new warehouse was started in the last “day or two”.
[3] The date is rendered in relief on the Jetty and Bond Street facades.
[4] OW 7 February 1895 p.11.
[5] ODT 8 February 1878 p.3d.
[6] ODT 19 April 1878 p.3b “New Buildings” states the tender has been let and names the architects.
[7] Personal communication Owen Graham District Manager New Zealand Historic Places Trust/Peter Entwisle 2/4/2008.
[8] It is registration number 4752 and was classified in 1986 as a category C historic place. Under the reformed system of classification that has become a category 2 registration. Personal communication Heather Bauchop, NZHPT Otago Southland area office, and Peter Entwisle. 3/4/2008.
[9] Dunedin City District Plan April 2004 Vol 2, site no. B010, map no. 49, Moritzson Building (formerly), address cnr Bond and Jetty Streets.

Bibliography:
Peter Entwisle, Treasures of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 1990
Hardwicke Knight & Niel Wales, Buildings of Dunedin John McIndoe Ltd, Dunedin, 1988
Otago Daily Times Dunedin, 1861- [ODT]
Otago Witness Dunedin, 1851-1932 [OW]

Peter Entwisle
3 April 2008

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin City Council preserves Dunedin Gasworks Museum

A fine example of what the council is doing for Dunedin’s heritage tourism.

### ODT Online Thu, 13 May 2010
Former glory re-emerging at South Dunedin site
By John Gibb
Through restoration work, a beautiful old building at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum is emerging from what was once a sagging collection of bricks which engineers had warned was in danger of collapse.

D Scene features heritage/issues!

### D Scene 24-3-10 (front cover)
Car boot sale
A developer has chosen a novel way to make his point over [a] resource consent charge, and is selling his car to meet fees incurred restoring his Crawford St building. See p3. #bookmark

Possible closure strikes a chord (page 2)
By Mike Houahan
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, I earned a living writing about and reviewing rock ’n’ roll bands. Hence, the news that venerable Dunedin venue Sammy’s is on the brink of closure unless it is rapidly brought up to scratch to meet fire regulations struck a chord… Rock ’n’ roll has almost always been shunted into back-alley venues not fit for purpose, and venues and band managers have often colluded to stuff as many punters in as possible to maximise their revenue.
{continues} #bookmark

Fuming over charges (page 3)
By Wilma McCorkindale
Dunedin City Council may have another zoning battle on its hands, with building co-owner Lawrie Forbes fuming over consent charges for a redevelopment in moribund Crawford St. DCC zoned blocks from Queens Garden to the Oval large-scale retail in 1995, but Forbes believes the zone is not viable and has called for the council to review it.

Forbes said he and partner Craig McNaughton were restoring two of the four buildings on the site at present. Heritage values that had been lost over the century were being restored.

{continues} #bookmark

****

The following headline should not imply the building proposal has been granted resource consent. The application has yet to be notified.

Ex-gallery revamp approved (page 5)
By Wilma McCorkindale
One end of the old art gallery building at Logan Park is up for demolition – part of a $5m Dunedin City Council spend up at Logan Park…the last of the buildings which housed the [New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition (1925-1926)] still in public ownership, is to lose some of its southern end to accommodate an extension to the University Oval sports ground.

‘[Paul]Hudson conceded council intially considered levelling the entire former art gallery as it grappled with the high cost* of the work required to retain it.’

{continues} #bookmark

*That was just ‘historical’ airyfairy bullshit from council on the cost of building retention.

****

Bus tourists ‘not welcome’ (page 6)
By Wilma McCorkindale
City hotelier Peter Laing is questioning the city’s attitude towards bus tourists, after he recently paid a parking ticket slapped on a tour bus dropping tourists outside his hotel. Laing said the bus had no option but to park on one of two P5 zones the Dunedin City Council had erected outside the hotel…[he] claimed the new P5s were a remnant of the council’s u-turn on unpopular parking changes it introduced last year.
{continues} #bookmark

Register to read D Scene online at http://fairfaxmedia.newspaperdirect.com/

User-pays system a ‘farce’ (page 8)
By Wilma McCorkindale
A Dunedin landlord is peeved at Dunedin City Council’s rules on rating of rental properties, saying its user-pays system was a farce. Darryl Jones was angry over an anomaly he identified between the rating method of his aging block of flats in Stuart St and on studio unit complexes in the city.
{continues} #bookmark

Talk: Dunedin on Dunedin
Your say: Letters to the Editor (page 9)
It didn’t happen overnight, by K Nordal Stene, North East Valley
The shocking state of Sammy’s, which necessitated ats immediate closure, has been a shock as well as a disappointment to many.
{continues} #bookmark

“The Building Act and the Fire Service Act place the obligation on the building owner to operate the building safely.”
-Trevor Tilyard, Dunedin Fire Service

Read the deputy chief fire officer’s full reply.

****

The Invisible City (pages 11-12)
By Gavin Bertram
Ancient cities like London, Paris and Rome have layers of history beneath them. These hidden strata tell the story of their habitation by humans, of the rise and fall of empires, and of inexorable progress. Unlike those great metropolises, subterranean Dunedin can’t claim layers going back to Roman times and beyond. But what’s buried under the city is still a source of fascination, and a great window into its history.
{continues} #bookmark #bookmark

Biz: Crunching the numbers (page 20)
Starting it up
Upstart Business Incubator is in the business of getting people into business, but it also has to pay its own way. Mike Houlahan reports.
From its Princes St premises, Upstart has nine companies in “incubation” with five in pre-incubation – a process of readying firms for the full programme of mentoring and business assistance, which becomes available to fledgling entrepreneurs when they graduate to the incubator.
{continues} #bookmark

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Channel 9 News preps us for outburst we don’t need

Announced:
Wednesday’s ODT features Earl Hagaman’s thoughts towards the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, in relation to demolition of the former Butterworth Building and the former Bank of Australasia in High Street.

Some time ago the property owner received resource consent to demolish and redevelop the site for a one-storeyed carpark building. That was old news. However, the buildings slid into raw neglect in the period the property owner delayed starting the development work.

This year, demolition was carried out, to MANY local people’s dismay and deep regret. Yeah, just another Christchurch developer that turns a blind eye to our local context, our civic history and (to be further explored and defined) our unique sense of place @ The Exchange.

Built in 1883, Butterworth’s was designed by prominent Italian architect Louis Boldini – one of his few remaining buildings in New Zealand. The facade was remodelled in the Art Deco style sometime after 1938, losing its Italianate detail. More recently known as Smiths City, the building was demolished in September this year – contributing to a steady corporate destruction of the historic townscape fabric of The Exchange area.

Leading colonial architect William Mason designed the old Bank of Australasia building (left, nearly out of picture). This photograph taken late in the nineteenth century shows the original facade of Butterworth building (second from left).

See jaffabeaut’s photostream at Flickr showing Smith City’s demolition.

ODT noted recently that Earl Hagaman is one of the parties involved in negotiations (hag-gling????) for purchase of property needed to realign SH88 near the stadium. Hmmm.

We feel all warm and fuzzy, suddenly.

****

### ODT Online Wed, 2 Dec 2009
Hotelier slams Historic Places Trust
By Mark Price
Scenic Hotel Group executive chairman Earl Hagaman has condemned the Historic Places Trust over the way it dealt with his company’s demolition of old buildings in High St earlier this year to make way for a car park.
Read more

****

Earl Hagaman doesn’t appear to understand or accept the archaeological provisions of the Historic Places Act.

What a pitiful tirade he accomplishes in his letter to MPs and the media. Like a bear with a sore head.

We await the response of New Zealand Historic Places Trust, which is forthcoming.

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Post by Elizabeth Kerr