AN INDUSTRIAL HALL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1145, 5 June 1911, Page 4

AN INDUSTRIAL HALL.

'— <• MR. R. FLETCHER'S PROPOSAL. People gifted with foresight are already exerting tnemselvcs to prouuee suggestions us to wnat snould be done with lue prospective, and coulideiu'iy-anticipated, surplus ot the Coronation Exhibition. Mr. R. Fletcher (chairman of the Harbour Hoard) has an idea which he thinks will meet the case exactly. "I am going to suggest," Mr. Fletcher told a reporter last' evening, "that Ilia wirpliis proceeds of the Coronation Exhibition should be devoted to establishing a. permanent Industrial Hall in Wellington. My suggestion is. that the Industrial Association should endeavour to come to an amicable arrangement with the Harbour Hoard in regard to a site. We (the, Harbour Hoard) have a lot of land in t'ho vicinity of tho dock site, and no doubt a suitable area could bo found." A building erected in accordance with his suggestion, Mr. Fletcher continued, might bo made tho home'of a permanent industrial and commercial exhibition. .Wool, ilax, dairy produce, and other products could be exhibited at all seasons. In fact, the establishment would be a standing museum of Now Zealand products. A display of this kind, Mr. Fletcher remarked, would be of the utmost value to buyers and other visitors entering tho Dominion. There would Iw available at any period uu immense array of information which would afford them useful guidance. In addition lite Industrial Hall could be applied to various special purposes. It would be a convenient home for agricultural and pastoral exhibitions, flower shows, and all undertakings of a similar nature. To an extent it would bo available for public entertainments, such as circuses and sports gatherings. It could also bo used for skating.

Mr. Fletcher considci's that the possibilities of the project ho has outlined aro immense. Undoubtedly, ho thinks, if enrriod into effect, it would Bcrvo educational and commercial ends of the utmost value. As to the initial expense the Exhibition surplus should give tho scheme a good start and Sir. Fletcher considers that, by public subscription, or otherwise, the remaining funds required could readily be raised. The Harbour Board, lie has no doubt, would fall in with the idea which should commend itself to both town and country members. Tho board could not, of course, sell an acre' of land outright, but Mr. Fletcher is confident that it would consent to lease a suitable area on liberal terms.