BUILDING OF TAKAHE
REASONS FOR DELAY DISCUSSED
FAULTY CONSTRUCTION ALLEGED SUMMIT ROAD TRUST CONCERNED Causes behind the protracted delays in the completion of the Sign of the Takahe were revealed at the annual meeting of subscribers to the Port Hills-Akarca Summit Road Public Trust, held at the Takahe last evening. Members alleged that there had been waste and serious errors in the construction of the building. It was claimed that instead of following Mr H. G. Ell’s original ideas and modelling features of the Takahe on English architectural works, Christchurch buildings were being copied. It -was stated that there were “too many fing&s in. the'pie,”' and that until the trust jasserted itself there was danger that Mr Ell’s plans would be seriously departed from. Mr Norman V. Smith, chairman of the board of trustees, presided. When the annual report was received, Mr J. A. Thomson,., a of the trust''"and supervisor, of the inferior' work "at the Takahe, asked what ‘ 'amount the citizens’ committee had in hand towards the work. Mr Smith said he understood the sum was about £3OO. ■ Mr Thomson: I have been informed by the citizens’ committee that the moment their funds are exhausted they are going to wipe their hands of any liability. .. , , Mr Thomson said he was troubled to know what would happen if flm citizens’ committee walked out. Was it not the trust’s duty to carry on? Mr Smith; Undoubtedly it is. 1 Mr Thomson said that the Minister Jfor Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. parry, had offered his permission for sanother art union. r Mr Smith said that the citizens’ committee certainly helped the trust out of trouble, mainly through the previous art union, « Mr Thomson said the trust must be .truly grateful to the committee for its work. In reply to Mr F. Egan, Mr Smith said that the takings of the Takahe were used for current interest payments. Two hundred pounds a year, roughly, required for interest, and this; together with running costs, absorbed practically the whole income of the-trtfsf. Control of Building Mr Thomson asked if it was not a ,’tnistake to say in the annual report that jlhe building was being controlled by •the citizens’ committee and the Public Works Department. He did not jlhink the trust had' the power to give nhe citizens’ committee control. n Mr Smith said the citizens’ committee was controlling only the expenditure of its own funds. That should possibly have been made clear. The building was being built according to plans owned by the trust. Mr Thomson: I hope those plans were not approved by you. Have you ever seen the specifications? Mr Smith: No. Mr Thomson: No, there have never been any written specifications for the job. It’s a great mistake. I think that’s been the whole trouble behind different statements about the amount of money required to complete the Tskshc Mr Thomson questioned whether the citizens’ committee’s estimate of £6500 recently put before the Government was a sufficient sum to complete the work and pay off debts. He claimed that unless proper specifications were set out it would be impossible to estimate the cost. It was useless to ask for money without knowing how much was wanted. , „ "Personally, I think the Government’s done more than its share.” Mr Thomson said. “It’s up to the city to do its part. Up to the present. £20,000 has been spent on the Takahe by the Government since it took over. I am positive quite a lot of money can be found in the city. The whole trouble is that there are too many parties involved.” These parties, he said, were the trust, the citizens’ committee, the Public Works Department, the honorary architect, the employment promotion authorities, and also those who were fighting and had fought all along to do what Mr H. G. Ell. the founder.had desired. It was simply a state of chaos and overlapping. He was convinced that the trust, as the legal owner of the building, should control its own affairs. ' Mr Smith said that in its estimate of costs, the citizens’ committee had not included the essential furnishings. Quite candidly, he would say it had not taken into consideration all angles of the subject.
Design in Question Mr Thomson then asked the chairman whether the trust had approved of certain features of the building. He -aid the architect had proposed to cut the size of the kitchen down to 14 feet by 11. He said also that it had been proposed to put a P ubli ? t ,®i°?s?°u downstairs in such a posit would be necessary to go through the maid’s bedroom to get to u. Mr Smith said that the trust had not approved of such proposals Mr Thomson said he wanted to pay t tribute to the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple. He could not speak too highly of the Mmistei s interest When he was shown plans he senYtmeone down Wellington and they were altered. Now things were being done that were n °t according to the. Minister’s instructions. For instance, the and co j veniences were being put in the front of the building overlooking what was to be an old world garden. In spite of Mr Semple’s strong disapproval these things were still going on. ... Mr Thomson said he was positive that until one body alone looked after the building the work could not go At present, Mr Thomson claimed, there was no one in charge competent to do the particular type of work required. For instance, a leak had occurred in one of the side walls; the whole thing was stripped and rebuilt, taking 12 months, and instead of remedying the fault the rain came through worse than ever. A wall was buntunder the kitchen and it was then discovered that a door was not put in and a hole had to be knocked out for it. Holes had also to be knocked out m other parts of the building for vents and windows Band of Workers Mr Smith said that when the trustees took over after Mr Ell they felt they should not spend more money on new work until they had cleared up the old debts. Had it not been for Mr Thomson and the band of workers at the Takahe the building would not have gone on. ... This was the first balance-sheet in which the trust was “about breaking, even.” meeting current ortpeir own''“pockets':' The' trust was n6w in d-position ’to meet current payments. ; Furnishings were required and there would be a question of raising funds.
The Government had done its fair share. It now lay with the citizens of Christchurch. Mr Thomson said there had been an attempt to stop the interior decorative work. To his mind, no one came i*p to the Takahe to look at the outside. They came to sec the interior. This part of the work was being carried out according to Mr Ell’s idea that each part should represent some famous building at Home. At the moment the stone carver, instead of using the necessary books acquired to pursue Mr Ell’s Plan. was being employed going round Christchurch copying features of city buildings, taking decorative points from them. The building should be according to Mr Ell’s scheme. Mr Egan moved that the wishes of Mr Ell be carried out in the completion of the building and its interior decorations. He said it would be a shame if outside parties were to interfere with the original scheme. It appeared also that there were faults m the construction. There were too many fingers in the pie. Miss E. A. Hill seconded the motion. “Criminal Waste” Mr Thomson said he was not blaming the Government or the Public Works Department, but he did know there had been enough stone brought down to the site to build five Takahes. There had been criminal waste in spite of what Mr Semple had wanted. Mr Smith: I disagree with all this. It’s looking a gift horse in the mouth. To me it’s a reflection on the Public Works Department. Mr Thomsen: Not a bit of it. After a short discussion in committee the motion was carried, and it was decided to send it to Mr Semple. A further motion was moved by Mr L. / McSweency, that the trustees approach the architect and ask him to prepare specifications for completion of the work according to the ideas of Mr Ell. This was carried.
SUMMIT ROAD TRUST
MR X. V. SMITH RE-ELECTED CHAIRMAN Mr Norman V. Smith was re-elected the Port Hills-Akaroa Summit Road Public Trust at the annual meeting of subscribers last evenThe meeting adopted the annual report, of which details have already been published. Balance-sheets ior the last three years were presented and adopted. They showed that a profit approximately £IOO had been made from the Takahe tearooms in the last months. . , . Mr J. A. Thomson was appointed honorary organiser, and it was recommended to the trustees that Mr * • Egan be added to the board. A resolution was carried expressing appreciation of Mr Thomson’s work at the Takahe. It was decided to ask the Minister for Employment, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong, to provide 20 men to build a tramping track from the Sign of the Kiwi to Evans Pass, following the Summit road.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22467, 30 July 1938, Page 6
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1,556BUILDING OF TAKAHE Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22467, 30 July 1938, Page 6
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