Steps to part-close Victoria St likely soon

Press, 15 June 1983, Page 1

Steps to part-close Victoria St likely soon

Procedures that would allow the future closing of the Victoria Square block’s northwest corner to traffic will probably be publicly notified soon.

A special combined meeting of Christchurch City Council committees agreed yesterday that the stopping of Victoria Street in that area was the first priority so that commercial development proposals could be sought for the site between the Town Hall and the Salvation Army Citadel.

Formal stopping procedures for the part of Victoria Street that is still legal road in the redevelopment block will probably be started by the full council on Monday. From a point north-west of the Avon River bridge to the Colombo Street-Armagh Street intersection, Victoria Street is not a legal road, and does not require formal closing. Steps should also be taken to prepare a management plan for the recreation reserve that would occupy the block south of the Avon River,- councillors said.

Councillors were shown six design discussion options for that area, ranging in final .. development costs from |500,000 to $600,000. Most of the design options include retentionof; - the Bowker ' Fountain somewhere in Victoria Square,.: A debate on which option councillors prefer has peen deferred. The Floral Clock’s future, north of the river, also remains an open question. , Urgent action is needed on the start of street-stop-ping procedures so that the City Council can negotiate with interested parties — including a consortium of the Development Finance Corporation, Air/, New Zea-land,-and the Sheraton Corporation r- over possible development of an international class hotel, on the block’s north-west corner.

The Mayor <of Christchurch, Sir Hamish Hay, said there were “possible other developments in prospect Involving the council site Which; are starting to become realities, and we want to be ready to move on them.”

The Deputy General Manager (Works), Mr H. E. Surtees, said “We have now

been approached and wish to take the opportunity to invite other approaches.”

Sir Hamish said it was not the time to “get too bogged down with details” on future reserve development south-east of the hotel site.

“It is over to us later to listen to public opinion,” he said. “But we won’t get anywhere until we close Victoria Street.”

City leaders will travel to’ Auckland next month to meet hotel consortium members “to look at some tentative proposals that could include a hotel development,” said Sir Hamish.

He expected that results of a market study on where the next Sheraton Hotel should be built in New Zealand would be available at the meeting. “I think we are getting to an interesting stage,” he said. He could not be more specific until after the meeting, but it was “an interesting further stage in discussions, and quite an encouraging one.” ..Sir Hamish said it could be . getting . to the point where the City Council would need to consider what incentives it might be prepared, to offer to get a development on the northwest corner, of the Victoria Sqbare, block. - It id known that the market survey could be a strong influence on whether the next Sheraton is built in Christchurch or Wellington. Mr Graeme Robertson, the Christchurch Civic Trust’s chairman, questioned whether the hotel site would be large enough for a development that would not have to cast a shadow over much of a Victoria Square redevelopment project,; He said that a high-rise building — he had seen a possible configuration for a 30-storey structure — could throw a shadow across the square during short winter days. ' Local consultants should be involved in any building development, he said. “New Zealand-wide experience suggests that

hotels designed by overseas consultants tend not to relate well to the surrounding environment.”

Bulk and location aspects of a commercial building, along with a wind-tunnel assessment of the development, should be done, said Mr Robertson.

Design criteria should be associated with any sale or leasing proposed for the site.

Any hotel or commercial development would incorporate public parking, including spaces for Town Hall patrons. Mr’Surtees said the city should be “able to live without difficulty with any traffic pattern that might arise” from closing the Victoria Square block to traffic.

Traffic volume increases on streets surrounding the block would not be particularly high in comparison with the amount of traffic using other city centre streets, he said.

“The Kilmore Street volume would be less than the maximum in St Asaph Street or in almost any other leg of the. one-way street pattern ” sajd Mr Surtees.

A diagram shows increases after the block’s closing of 1600 vehicles a day in Kilmore Street, 1500 a day in Colombo Street northbound, 1100 a day in Colombo Street southbound, 2300 a day in Durham Street, 2100 a day in Armagh Street eastbound, and 1600 a day in Armagh Street westbound. Those streets past the block would carry everyday traffic volumes, not particularly high or difficult to manage,” said Mr Surtees..' He said it would be possible to provide as much parking, in Victoria Square after redevelopment as was already there fin Victoria Street and Oxford Terrace. Oxford Terrace could also be closed without formal procedures since it is not a public street through the square.

The project team did not favour, providing that much parking in an area with recreationreserve potential. Future public parking to take the place of what is there : would be readily available as part of the commercial site developments and in a parking building planned next to the city centre library, less than a block away. '? ' Providing underground parking facilities in Victoria Square “could be several times-more expensive” than conventional parking, said Mr Surtees. Design options The six options provided for discussion on a future recreation reserve design were “an attempt to meet certain design aims,” said

Mr N. W. Drain, the parks and recreation director. “We are trying to retain the best of existing features.” When one design idea was presented to the council last month, showing removal of the Bowker Fountain and Floral Clock, many councillors said that such changes would not be acceptable to the public. Councillors said that design options should retain the fountain and clock, provide additional parking and taxi stands, reduce the proposed mounding and indicate preliminary costs of any plan. There is a great deal of flexibility in these plans,” said Mr Drain. Elements in each of them could be rearranged. None of the schemes was recommended at this stage. Mr Surtees said . that , development could be done; and financed in stages. The council’s capital works pro-

gramme already includes a provision for $300,000 over three years, starting in 198485.

Mr Surtees said there was also $llB,OOO in a fund set aside tor thb, ultimate widening of Victoria; Street, between Kilmore Street and Bealey Avenue. That work was no longer required ' undef the district scheme, and Audit Office, approval could be soughtto direct those' funds to a development associated with closing another part of-Vic-toria Street If a commercial development on. the block’s northwest corner had a capital value of $3O million, it could mean a reserve development . contribution of $150,000. -CS “There could be a very small demand indeed on the general rate” for early development of the Victoria Square project with such", funds, said Mr Surtees. . One design option shows ] the Oxfora Terrace link through Victoria Square remaihing open Lor cars and parking. . • Sane: options; show the Queen Victoria and Captain Cook statoes shifted to, new sites in the square,and one shows the:Bowker.Fountain shifted to a place whete it .would sit in-: what-is-now Victoria part of a dominant centralaxis along a line'following the present street Some design ideas would make* the area more ihforAll schemes would retain