The Press FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1965. Reconstruction Of Hospital

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30715, 2 April 1965, Page 12

The Press FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1965. Reconstruction Of Hospital

The celerity with which the Health Department and the North Canterbury Hospital Board have been able to agree on the outline plan for the reconstruction of the Christchurch Public Hospital is in marked contrast to the backing and filling that had gone on in the preceding 30 years. They are both to be congratulated. They are back almost where they were 30 years ago, except that they now have no doubt that they are both going in the same direction. The handsome but expensive Princess Margaret Hospital at Cashmere is a reminder to them of their difficulties in the period when the board was described as trying to emulate the Americans. No great harm was done at Cashmere, where useful additional beds were provided though at unnecessary cost and without any relevance to plans to develop the main base hospital on the park site. The Christchurch Public Hospital has magnificent surroundings and a much more convenient location, particularly for out-patients and casualties. As the city spreads west and north, Cashmere becomes further from the centre of population.

When the board was last firmly committed to reconstruction of the Christchurch Public Hospital, in 1944, it encountered some public opposition because it intended to use open space behind the present buildings and to have an entrance from Rolleston avenue with a bridge across the Avon. Though the proposed entrance made good sense then from a traffic point of view, it roused bitter objections from those citizens who opposed any construction within what might be considered park boundaries. In fact, the bridge would probably not have encroached upon land open to the public. In the meantime, the traffic pattern has been changed by the City Council’s decision to put a bridge across the Avon at Antigua street. The board’s present intention is apparently to have the main entrance still on Riccarton avenue. Curiously enough, no objection seems to have been taken to the siting of the big first-stage building, presumably because it is now realised that the board has no thought of cluttering its property with buildings and is anxious to preserve open space. It may be hoped that the board will now be able to proceed unimpeded with an urgent project. Essential improvements to many departments of the hospital have been too long delayed while the accumulation of old mistakes and misunderstandings was being cleared away.