TOWN HALL CONTRACT SIGNED; BET ON

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31836, 14 November 1968, Page 1

TOWN HALL CONTRACT SIGNED; BET ON

A case of champagne has been wagered on completion of the town hall, the contract for which was signed yesterday afternoon.

Cr H. G. Hay, chairman of the City Council’s town hall committee, bet Mr C. S. Luney, the principal of the firm which won the contract with a tender of $2,472,592, that the building would not be completed within the three years stipulated. Mr Luney accepted the bet cheerfully.

Mr Luney has a reputation for completing contracts on time, and he will make a start today, when the huts and gear will be moved on to the site.

In more serious vein, there were speeches yesterday afternoon to mark what Cr Hay said was a historic moment in metropolitan Christ-

church and what Mr D. B. Rich, chairman of the Waimairi County Council and spokesman for the local bodies outside the city, described as the “end of the beginning.”

Both Cr Hay and the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr A. R. Guthrey) said they were pleased that first a Christchurch architectural firm, Warren and Mahoney, had won a New Zealand-wide competition for design of the town hall, and that then a Christchurch contracting company had won the contract against competition from elsewhere in New Zealand. STONE-LAYING The foundation stone would be laid early in the new year by the Governor-General (Sir Arthur Porritt) while he was in residence in Christchurch, Cr Hay announced. He was sure that there would be more voluntary support for the project, now that it was beyond the planning stage, Cr Hay said. There must be hundreds of people in the farming community who regarded Christchurch as their "county and market town” who would like to make a contribution.

Mr Guthrey congratulated Cr Hay on his energy and his diplomacy when the project, for which Christchurch had waited many years, seemed in jeopardy. He said the town hall project was truly a metropolitan one, which showed that Christchurch could really be united when there was a worth-while scheme. Now it must not be chicken-hearted and must see that the project was completed. ENTHUSIASTIC Mr Luney said that everyone in his organisation was enthusiastic about the project. “We will be doing our level best to see that the project turns out to be not only a credit to the architects and to ourselves, but also a credit to the city,” he said.

The contract documents were signed by the Mayor, Cr Hay, Mr R. W. J. Harrington, the Mayor of Riccarton, Mr J. B. Collett, Mayor of Lyttelton, Mr Rich, Mr J. S. Scott, chairman of the Heathcote County Council, and Mr D. H. Warren, chairman of the Paparua County Council, along with their executive officers.

Mr Luney was the first signatory to the documents. After the ceremony when those present had a congratulatory drink—not champagne —Mr Luney said that at the peak of the work there would probably be about 100 men on the job.

The photograph shows Mr Harrington signing the contract. Others, from left, are Mr F. M. Warren (architect), Cr Hay, Mr Guthrey and Mr Luney.