TOWN HALL PLAN Assessors Pleased With Revision

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32164, 6 December 1969, Page 1

TOWN HALL PLAN Assessors Pleased With Revision

Recommendations made to the Christchurch City Council’s development committee about the revised plan for the Town Hall complex by three assessors of the original architectural design competition would, he felt, be very acceptable to the City Council and to the people of Christchurch, the Mayor (Mr A. R. Guthrey) said yesterday.

Commenting on the outcome of the special meeting with the assessors, which was taken in committee, yesterday afternoon, Mr Guthrey said that a full explanatory statement and a picture of the revised plan would be made available after the panel’s recommendations had been fully considered by the council. Once this was done, said the Mayor, he felt sure it would help to clear up the confusion and variance of opinion' about the resiting -of the multi-storey administration block. The convener of the panel (Mr G. R. Muston, of Wellington) said that he and his colleagues were very happy with the: revised plan. After a morning, inspection of the site he said that in general he did not think the scheme-could be faulted. The resiting of the administration block made the general grouping of the buildings more attractive.

The revised scheme also provided essential car parking for users of the Town Hall, something which was often forgotten in such schemes, he said. Although the revised plan called for the administration block to be resited, Mr Muston said, the block would remain on the same axis as envisaged in the original concept of Professor G. Stephenson.

“I. am sure that if Professor Stephenson had been a member of the adjudicating panel he would have been very satisfied with what had been suggested,” he said. The proposed changes would also mean that the library would be in a more central position. Mr Muston agreed with the chairman of the Town Hall committee (Cr H. G. Hay) that consultation should take

place between the Justice Department and the City Council on plans for the new law court complex. It was essential, he added, for the law court buildings and the Town Hall complex to be architecturally compatible.

The other aaseasors are Messrs E. J. Croy, of Dunedin, and A. F. de Lisle, of Hamilton. ■ ,