Y.H.A. seeks new location

Press, 23 September 1988, Page 42

Y.H.A. seeks new location

The New Zealand Youth Hostels Association is beginning to consider possible alternative sites for a central Christchurch hostel. The lease on the Rolleston Avenue hostel will run out in 1995, and already the Christchurch City Council, which owns the site, is discussing using this for a new civic art gallery. The general manager of the association, Mr Len West, said he would be pleased if the future of the site was at least resolved so that the association knew the options. "We have been consciously developing our larger hostels for the last four years, and Christchurch is the next on the list. We are just now sitting down and talking about what we are going to do.” He said the biggest problem faced would be finding a site near the centre of the city. Most of the people who stayed at the Rolleston Avenue hostel are overseas visitors who en-

joybeing able to walk into Cathedral Square and visit the museum, the Botanic Gardens and othe attractions. “The situation in Rolleston Avenue is superb.” Mr West said that the association’s other Christchurch hostel, in Richmond, was a "lovely old building but was not in the best condition or handy to the central city. It was possible consideration would be given to finding a building capable of incorporating both the hostels. Before the Rolleston Avenue hostel opened in 1975, the association had only Cora Wilding Hostel in Richmond. The site is also owned by the City Council.

The reason the council is already considering the site’s future is that it has received a bequest of about $200,000 to start a fund for anew art gallery. If is didi decide to use the site to develop the gallery, a District Scheme changeould be required, as a gallery is not a permitted ise of the residential zoning.