A.U.C.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 112, 15 May 1933, Page 5

A.U.C.

BATTLE OF THE SITES. LOCATION OF COLLEGE. CONTROVERSY RECAIiED. (No. 2.) A brief sketch of the foundation of the Auckland University College and its subsequent history has already been given. In that story was told shortly the struggle of the young college to find accommodation, however woefully insufnnent and unsuitable, while mention was also made of what was there called we Rattle of the sites." Originally the University College was noueed in the old district courthouse in Street. By a system of peaceful Penetration it spread to the old Parliament Buildings adjacent, to the Admir- |% House in Short Street, and to a ■rttle cottage nea:- the old museum in juices Street. But in 1917 the college Wd again to find new quarters, as the 01 d buildings stood right in the way of a new arterial thoroughfare, Anzac Avenue. permanent site was availat,'e; no Government grant could be 5Me. At that time the old Grammar School in Lower Symonds Street became va cant, „nd in that building were housed u 'e faculties of Art, Law, Commerce an <l Music. That alone, however, was not 6uffl c i ell t. At a cost of £14,767 the College Council built a two-storeyed J 'ock round the Choral Hall to house [ae sciences. That block wae completed in 1919. The Schools of Thought. hi that year also occurred the most ""portant event in the brief though :i «]uered career of the college—the 1 "uring of a permanent site. Around " 't choice battle raged for a long while.

lhe major differences of opinion lay' "'tween those who thought that the "I'-ege should be situated in the heart! W the city and those whose conviction 't was that attached to the University should be residential accommodation and ample grounds for playing areas, which, naturally enough, were impossible in the

middle of the city. Then, of course, j to erect such buildings would cost money, and there never yet was a Government which agreed readily to the making of monetary giants. The site proposed in the city wae one bordering Government House, and a third section I of those interested was strongly opposed, largely from reasons of sentiment, to the disturbance in any way of Government House or Government House grounds. This feeling wae particularly strong in the early days, but even in the controversy of the opening years of this century one seems to remember how, at a public meeting, a gentleman then prominent in Auckland, rose and declaimed that never would he consent to the removal of the great proconsul's bed, a reference to Sir George Grey'a governorship. In point of fact, the reluctance to disturb Government House was in a, measure responsible for the non-provi-sion by the Government of a site at the outset, in 1883. After perusal of documents and records, one cannot doubt that the Whitaker Government, then in office, intended to convey to the College Council Government House and seven acres of ground. In 1887 a plan of survey was made, on which, of an area between Symonde Street and Princes Street and Waterloo Quadrant and Alfred Street, eeven acres, including Government House, were marked "University."

The Governor's Opinion. In the minute book of the College Council, for the meeting of June 6, ISSJ, there appears the entry that the chairman, Sir Maurice O'Rorke, had announced that "he had conferred with the Governor as to a suitable site lor the college. His Excellency had expressed his personal approval of the site in the paddock at the rear of Government House with a frontage to Princes Street." In his remarks when he opened the college in 18S3, Sir William Jervois confirmed that conversation. That site was known as the Metropolitan Ground Further letteia written by two of the original professors, Messrs. A. P. W Thomas and P. D. Brown, state that they were led to believe in London that the University would be situated in Government House In 1911 the Hon. G. Fowlds, then Minister of Education, introduced a measure to convey the whole of the Government House area, including the adjacent site to the coUege council. At I the same time, however, he had obtained

the consent of his colleagues in the Government to purchase the old home of Sir John Logan Campbell as a ViceKegal residence. That fact was not made known at the time, since the old man was still living. When the provisions of Mr. Fowld's bill were made public there was an immediate storm. Opposition was raised by the sections of the community already mentioned, a series of public meetings was held, and public feeling was roused to a high pitch. Really the question of the site was in the air from that time until 1919.

The college remained in Eden Street, and the Government continued to neglect it. Until 1919, when the present site was secured, and £100,000 bestowed for the Arts Building, the sums granted for building purposes totalled £5450. In 1909 the Ward Ministry promised £100,000, but 10 years had to pass before the money was paid. Official Opinion—and Other. As stated previously, there was a section in the community which wished the college to be set in the suburbs so that more surrounding grounds could be secured. Nor was that section diffident about putting forth its views. The College Council, the Professorial Board, the Graduates' Association and the Students' j Association all wished to see the Uni- I versity built on the Metropolitan | ground; another section comprising some ; of the prominent citizens of Auckland felt nervous about Government House, while others gave their views for a university with ample grounds. Taking the location of many of the universities as a precedent —many aro built in the very heart of cities—the College Council maintained that the Princes Street site was in the best interests of the students. The late Dr. T. W. Leys, then chairman of the College Council, published in 1919, with the authority of the council, a booklet setting out the problem. That booklet shows how strongly the educational officials were in favour of a central site. Sir Maurice O'Rorke quoted in the publication, spoke of "banishment to the outskirts of the city to the detriment of the institution and the inconvenience of the city." Dr. Leys said that any other site would "restrict university education to the children possessing wealth." Statistics were quoted, from which one learns that while 48 students in 1912 would not have been inconvenienced by a removal of the college to the suburbs, 380 would Inee been.

And 60 finally the controversy came to an end. The A.U.C. Site Act was passed and the college was built with a Government grant of £100,000 on the site chosen by the council, and really promised from the- beginning. The battle of the sites was over, but no one really considered that the bed of the great pro-consul was harmed.