PARLIAMENT HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 303, 16 September 1908, Page 7

PARLIAMENT HOUSE.

!V, , . 9 '"3 ' J \) THE NEW SITE, REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. - SUGGESTIONS BY MEMBERS. '' " INTERESTING 'EVIDENCE ' . The. committee apppinted . to inquire and report as to tho most suitable site for the erection of new Parliamentary buildings reported yesterday (through the chairman, Sir W. J. Steward) that they had duly inquired. into the matter;. --! ■ They had; oxamined the following wit;iies§es M vi?., Messrs., John Campbell, Goverujuent, Architect,. Jackson. Palmer, ■ Chief judge Native Land Court ; H; J. H. Blow, tJnder-Secrctary for Public Works; J.-.-M. Batham, Registrar-General of Lands and Deeds';' Gv F'. r C.' ! Campbell, .Valuer-General; A. Hamilton, Director of Museum; P. Heyes, Commissioner of Taxes and Superintendent Government' Advances to Settlers Department; and. Charles Wilson, Parliamentary Librarian. . tl 'Tho*'oviderice' of these witnesses was ,atta'chbd.- 'In'the opinion of the committe it clearly'showed' that the site occupied by Government House and now temporarily used by the, Legislature had great advantages over ,the .site, bounded by. Hill Street,' Molesworth Street, and Sydney Street, on which were erected tho recently-destroyed Parliamentary Buildings, and-that no other, available site in the City, of Wellington ' was equally suitable.

The evidenco also showed that further accommodation for tho' various Departments of : the Public Service; and also for the Parliamentary Library, and the Museum, was urgently required, the building in Lambton Quay being already fully occupied, and affording barely sufficient accommodation for the officers .(numbering 670) employed therein, although to relievo the .pressure , a number of suites of offices scattered" over various parts of the city were rented by tho Government'at a cost of £3117 per annum. "Your committee find that to extend ,tho building on Lambton Quay would bo to increase tho already serious risk of destruction by firo to which not only the building itself but also tho valuable aiid irreplaceable'. public: records stored therein are now exposed. • "Your committee regard it as imperatively, necessary to make provision for suitable fireproof buildings, aud-they find that this can best be effected by erecting such buildings on the Molesworth Street site.

"Thoy recommend that this bo done, and that as soon as possible all the Departments dow accommodated on Lairibton Quay bo gradually transferred to buildings, to be erected on the' Molesworth Street' sito. "So soon as this is carried into effect tho block bounded by Lambton Quay, Featherston Street, Bunny Street, and Whitmore Street, on which the present wooden building stands, could be leased to tho public in building allotments for a total rental which would: provide; interest on a-large capital 'Sum,' the present" value of tlio dail'd being estimated by the "Valuation Departmeiit at £264,000. "Your committee, therefore, report that, in their opinion, the new Parliament Houses, including a new-, library building, should bo erected on the Government House site, and that; the Molesworth Street site, including •thoso : portions of the old Parliamentary -Buildings not destroyed by fire, should be for Departmental buildings and offices, and the old Parliamentary lawn tennis ground as a site for a building for the museum, the Lambton Quay block to be eventually dealt with as wibove indicated; the''sections and intersecting street-lines be'iilj*Maid off, provided tha-t' satisfactory arrangements can bo made as between the Govfern'ment "and the City Council. v "Jour, committee desire to point out that jt-he,, thus proposed will entail "tlife' necessity of providing a new site foi Government House, the selection of which does not come within the order of reference." r". Sir. AVilliam Steward proposed that -tho re.'port'iiie and that it be considered .tp-dsiy.,, ... ? : -THE-REPORT DISCUSSED. Mr. Massey asked for a longer period for conSidotatibrt r df.;the;.'Tfeport and evidence. (Heartbeat .)"it ■ was' ; a most important mat- • . Tho Prime Minister suggested that it bo considered., "next Electing day." This would "tfptfi.cfltnniit.ithfi! House : to any special day. t He, agreed,.that.there, should not do any undue" haste;' 1 'He "would • ' undertake to see that the consideration would not be hurried. -The-committee, ho might--, say, —had been umminious Jmterjection_ from Mr. Massey).. Tt any rate, it"ha'd' been unaiumou's''6n the <part ofrall- been -present, .and', those who'had stayed away should have been there to*'do f their' duty. He, however, agreed Witlr'.Mr'i as' to the -importance of the proposal,, and. agreed' there, should be iio at'Ji'empt ;to-'r.uSh:it, through. Ho also did not' want 'it to''be' s'aid that tho country was go ?ing-'to be"committed to any unnecessary expenditure. Mr. Laurenson (Lyttelton)" agam ex-pressed-the-opinion .that.if. this .matter .were submitted to the people t-h=y would decide for a now capital' site. ITo desired that :plenty of time' be taken to consider the matte'r.' »P{irliament could well continuo in their present surroundings for another four or fivo years Tho'Ocslgns; : ' ' Mr. 'iiifvCy .(Chfis'tcliureh)''*advocated that New 'Zealand''architects be giveh' a' cbanco to compete in designs for-the'buildings. •Designs' should MilSo •be , inpted .from other parts of the world, since it was important the very best cdifico should be erected. Mi-. W. H. Field (Otaki) expressed a similax> desire.'^S'd:'referred to; s tho" plans of tho "additions to' the Weilingtoii' Post Office, aud said ho had heard very uncomplimentary refcreiices..to iha._d¥.signs.„froni people who "ought to know." Ho agreed, therefore, with tho previous speaker that designn should bri-'obtained' from: both inside and outside the Dominion, and should not be limited to tho .Government architects. Mr. Barber (Newt-own) desired to know if the.; Mount C.qoki.site had- be<?u ; taken, into consideration.. ..... bl

The' l'rirno' Minister said- the ■Government, up to .-the-present, had not considered the matter raised by Mr. Davey. They had proposed, after the committee liad~reported, to go into the.-whole question. Until the report had como"'dowh tlicy had not been able to do anything. The point raised by Mr. Davey bo .fully considered; Mr. Fisher (Wellington) said that "designs might bo considerably' affected by tho site. He spoke against any. haste in the matter, ari(l agreed with the suggestion of tho mem- ' Km' 'for -'Christbhurch; It might' even be found desirable to send a commissioner -abroad-to seo...designs of .Parliamentary buildiugs elsewhere. " The report was laid on the tabled

THE SCHEME DESCRIBED. GOVERNMENT ARCHITECT'S EVIDENCE THE PROPOSED PARLIAMENTARY ""building: From the evidence given by Mr. John Campbell, Government .architect, before tho committee, a fairly clear idea of tho proposed new Parliamentary Buildings on the Government House site...may-bo obtaiued. The estimated cost "of the "' building is £180,000. Thero would be three good floors, what is. shown /on the plans as a basement boin'g really a story'l4ft: high, raised' two feet'above tho'-'surface'of the ground, and extending bade to about a third of the depth of tho building;- Tliere would bo forty-ono additional rooms ; as-compared- with, what would bo provided on tho old site, and tho arrangement would. bo more - convenient. There would bo 26 rooms on tho floor, abovo and 15 on tho floor beneath, exclusive of the rooms in tho'Library and for Bellamy's The chamber for the Lower House would "bo Exactly tho-same size as tho old one. Tho shainber- for. theiUEijei:- Housed drawn on

the sketch plan the same size, but Mr. Campbell suggested,.that, it; should..be made a little smaller and the; other, chambera littlo larger. - There would bo abundance of space in the galleries, and plenty of robm'for-extension of tho building towards Museum Street and Bowen Street, so that the House of Representatives, could bp, enlarged if a future in,:reajo of members made it necessary. The £180,000 would .provide for the building being fireproof, the. floors, being of concrete, and ■ steel construction being .used throughout. Mr. Campbell also said that the ventilation .vould be very much better tha'n in tho old ouildings. The House of Representatives, being on the north side, would get plenty of (unsnine. . The middle portion of tho build-, ing, comprising 'tho two legislative halls and ;ho lobby ! between. them, would bo of , one itory, but equal in height to two stories of tho other parts of tho building. Mr. Campbell's suggestion is that half of tho proposed building should be erected- at onco at a'cost of £90,000, f ,the "present Government House remaining in situ to supplement the new roomSi The Lower Houso would have its permanent chamber erected, whilo the Upper House would sit in. an adjacent temporary building. , Parliament could ' be kept sitting without being disturbed; bythe building going on. Mr. Campbell told the committee that it-would take about two years to erect tho, £90,000 portion <ofMiho building,, after about six' months had* been consumed in preparing the working drawings. That was assuming that tho work was done by contract,' but if it was done by the Public Works Department, employing day-labour,-a start could be made in three months. •_ Further accommodation could be provided by raising the building one story higher, but the walls would have to be 4} inches thicker than planned. Mr'. Campbell pointed out that tho ventilation and lighting would bo less satisfactory. This would be owing to the wells, or light areas being made so much higher. Tho distance between the_ two chambers would be 42ft., just the width of the lobby, as against 154 in the old building.

NEW VICE-REGAL RESIDENCE. ... A PLAN V/ITHOUT A SITE. Mr. Campbell also submitted sketch plans for a now Government House to cost £30,000, md at a later meeting, lie substituted another plan, of a building to cost £25,000, but no suggestion as to sito. Tho public rooms on this second plan are larger in every' case than those of'the present Government House,' but thero are two bedrooms less.; There were 15 bedrooms for all requirements;'in addition to seven servants' bedrooms. The ballroom would be 66ft.' by 25ft., : or 50 per cent, larger than the present ballroom'. " The" dining- : room would be about as large as the present one; but the' committee decided -to make it 1 considerably larger, as also the drawingroom. The'drawing and dining, rooms could .'/be thrown into one for large meetings. : ' THE MUSEUM. Mr. . A. Hamilton, in' his evidence, said that a building 200 ft. by' 100 ft. wonld :at least, be; required for the Colonial .Museum, or about 50 per cent, more,than the present accommodation. He favoured the site of the tennis court at the back of the old Parliament Buildings, . , .