MOORHOUSE AVENUE.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19212, 19 January 1928, Page 12

MOORHOUSE AVENUE.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT.

By W.H.W.

It seetus as if the i'ront door of Cliristchurch is always to be in the vicinity of our railway station; and a very pitiful front entrance it has always been, and as at present. The question arises, "What can reasonably be done to improve it?" First of all, some attention could be paid by the Government to the provision of a more imposing station building. The present ramshackle affair, with its various makeshift additions, may have been quite appropriate in the old provincial days—back to which, I understand, it dates—but to-dav, when, after the lapse of years, it has been found that it still constitutes our main gateway to the City, it is surely time that the authorities in Wellington realised that Cliristchurch is due for a modern central station building. The fact that it can be erected facing what can be made an imposing boulevard makes it additionally easy to design a very imposing edifice, which cannot be shut out from view by other buildings. Hand-in-hand with such a structure, it is incumbent on this City to make the most of the imposing avenue laid out by our forefathers, but left to us to develop—the old South belt, now Moorhouse avenue. The possibilities of beautifying this wide thoroughfare, and making it a '•joy forever" are very easily .seen. Judicious use of beds formed with huge water-worn rocks, similar to the St. Ki'da road, in Melbourne; the planting of suitable palms, shrubs, and flowering beds with occasional grass plots, down the centre of its whole length; rustic, or, if more suitable, classical pergolas of stone, steel, or concrete, are quite within the means of this City.

Dust Nuisance. Bituminous or concrete roadways, where beds or grass do not occur, will finish the scheme, and prevent the clouds of dust that at present greet the suffering visitor who has managed to endure the agonies of the Lyttelton tunnel.

The provision of a huge fountain playing outside the station entrance would do much to balance the discomfort of arrival during a nor'-wester, for nothing looks so uninviting to a newcomer as to get the first view of the streets of Cliristchurch obtained at present on a nor'-west day from the Moorhouso avenue entrance to the station.

Further, why should not the Government or the civin authorities acquire some of the land this side of the tunnel mouth and lay it out on accepted garden city lines? What a huge and productive undertaking this could be made! At present what' wc see are dreary mud-flats, back-yards in various degrees of tidiness, grimy shunting yards, and some acres of very rarely painted buildings. While it would, not ho asking too much of .our members of Parliament to enlighten the Government with respect to the station, it is up to our civie authorities in Cliristchurch City and the Heathcoto County Council to see to the other items, for both would be. equally benefited as a result of such a scheme' being inaugurated. Further, in these times of general depression, any legitimate avenue for the provision of useful work should bo exploited to the utmost, and a great amount of labour could be utilised in carrying-. out sucli work, which would 1» appreciated by residents and visitors alike. •