Tourist industry awards boost preserration of historic buildings

Press, 8 December 1976, Page 25

Tourist industry awards boost preserration of historic buildings

1. The West Coast Historical and Mechanical Society’s Shantytown, near Greymoath, is a reconstruction of a late nineteenth century gold-mining town near the original settlement of Rutherglen. On 182 hectares of land, the society has assembled a wide range of buildings typical of the period, livery' stables, printing works, carpenter’s shop, fire station, hotel, bank, and stores. A steam engine runs on a standard gauge line; a coach station is planned.

2. At Parnell Village, Auckland, a group of old timber houses has been transformed into a collection of small specialtyshops and restaurants. The project has played a significant part in rejuvenating one of the older parts of Auckland. 3. Hurworth, New Plymouth, the house which Harry Atkinson built for himself in 1855-56, is considered one of the best surviving examples of a simple, early colonial farmhouse. In the course of restoration a large number of additions and alterations made in later years were stripped away to give the house its original character. The restored farmhouse was opened by the Prime Minister on May 29. 1. Wyllie Cottage, Gisborne, built about 1872, is the oldest complete house in Gisborne. and the only one remaining of its style of vertical sheathing. In the course of its restoration by the Gisborne CityCouncil. to which the property was given to enable an art gallery and museum to he founded, some outer sheathing was replaced, and the building was re-roofed with kauri shingles. 5. At the Golden Terrace Mining Town, Queenstown, a collection of material and buildings dating from gold-mining days has been assembled and is being preserved in a setting which evokes the atmosphere of the period. Mining equipment, waggons, drays, carts, and other horse-drawn vehicles can be seen around the village. 6. The owners of Plimmer House Restaurant, Wellington, a century-old house, have managed to preserve the charm and character of the buildings even though substantial interior modifications were needed to comply with local body and health regulations to permit its use as a restaurant.

Half of the projects given awards, or commended for their design, by the tourist industry this year were projects which involved the restoration or reconstruction of historic buildings. Four of the 12 projects awarded or commended were restorations of individual buildings and two were reconstructions of mining towns of the gold-rush days.

The awards were made on the recommendation of a selection panel which included a representative of each of the Institute of Architects, the Institute of Landscape Architects, the Government Architect, the Historic Places Trust, and the Tourist and Publicity Department. Thirty-eight tourist facilities covering a range of accommodation, landscaping, historic restoration, and other tourist projects were entered in the competition. Six received awards and a further six were commended. The three projects of historical interest which received full, awards were the restoration of “Hurworth,” the pioneer farmhouse built by Sir Harry Atkinson in New Plymouth; the construction of a replica or a West Coast gold-mining town of the late nineteenth century at Shantytown, near Greymouth; and the restoration of Plimmer House, Wellington, built in the 1870 s, for use as a restaurant. The three projects of historical interest which were commended by the judges were Parnell Village, Auckland, a shopping village of restored Victorian buildings; the restoration and refurnishing of Wyllie Cottage, Gisborne, a farm cottage built about 1872; and the Golden Ter-

race Mining Town, Queenstown, the reconstruction of a typical Otago mining town of a century ago. This official recognition by the tourist industry of the role historic buildings and sites can play in attracting tourists to New Zealand, and in attracting New Zealand travellers to places they might otherwise pass by, should have given great encouragement to those responsible for ensuring that a representative sample of the country’s old buildings survives in good repair. Successive governments have been reluctant to provide the Historic Places Trust with as much money as it needs for the restoration of the coun-

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JOHN WILSON

try’s slowly dwindling stock of old buildings on aesthetic or historical grounds alone. The -trust has had mostly to confine its work to projects of the utmost importance. But when there is a prospect of a return for money invested in restoring old buildings from an increase in tourist traffic, it should be easier to persuade both the Government and local bodies to invest more

money in historical preservation. The other encouraging feature of the awards is that only one of the projects recognised by the tourist industry was an Historic Places Trust project — the restoration of “Hurworth.” The trust assisted the restoration of Wyllie Cottage (by giving kauri shingles) which is owned by the Gisborne City Council, but it and the other projects were all undertaken by local groups. Plimmer House, Wellington, and Parnell Village, Auckland, are both commercial projects, the restored buildings being used as restaurants and shops. The two recon-

structions of mining villages in the South Island are partly commercial projects and partly the result of local enthusiasm. If everything were left to the Historic Places Trust, not enough would be done. The trust gets by with a total income from all sources of about $250,000 a year. Even if the Government gave the trust an enormous increase in its annual grant,

the trust would still be hard-pressed to undertake all the projects of national significance which it thinks should be undertaken. The Historic Places Trust has, by law, to give almost exclusive attention to properties of great historic interest. With many people involved in restoration and reconstruction projects with motives other than preservation for its own sake, there is a much better chance that the number of buildings which should be preserved will not be lost. This year’s tourist industry design awards are very good news indeed for people concerned that New Zealand is carelessly neglecting its not large, but interesting and valuable, heritage of old buildings.