THE ART GALLERY SITE.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19726, 17 September 1929, Page 13

THE ART GALLERY SITE.

TO rSM IDITOB 0» THX PRESS Sir,—Would" you or someone kindly explain why, not so very long ago, the Domains.Board „(if I remember rightly) refused the Public Hospital Board permission to use more of the Domain for some building they required—was it not the Nurses' Home?—and now are offering a large piece of the Gardens to the Art Society as a site for the new Artf Gallery—a gift which will incur the great expense of pulling down the curator's house and building a new one, presumably somewhere else in the Domain, thus robbing mora ground that was originally set aside for trees, flowers, and lawns, and whatever else appertained to a garden? What excuse has the Board for this, and who is to pay the piper? I think that those who favour the Gardens as a site for the Gallery overlook the fact that many beautiful trees will have to be sacrificed to make room for such a big building, also that in the more or less near future, the Gallery will surely need enlarging, thus encroaching still further, unless the Art Society intends to stand still and buy no more pictures. In a leader lately you mentioned Victoria Square as a suitable site, and I must say I agree with you; it is so central. But if the City Council cannot see their way to granting the use of it, why does not the Art Society offer the ground the present Gallery stands on?— Yours, etc., September 16th, 192P