PROBLEMS FOR CITY CORPORATION

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 150, 22 March 1938, Page 6

PROBLEMS FOR CITY CORPORATION

Servicing The Exhibition *PLANS FOR COMFORT v AND SAFETY . Several of the staffs of the Wellington City Corporation are immediately concerned in the Centennial Exhibition, both in the initial stages and when the building is completed. A great exhibition such as this one must be adequately serviced. One of the first essentials ot a structure which is to cope with thousands of visitors every day, week after week for six months, is to provide it with the common necessities of

health and comfort —water and drainage. 1 As the building itself, without tlie amusement park, the gardens and

the parking reserves, will cover 131 acres of ground, it can be imagined that the work of laying down watermains, both for every-day necessities and for fire suppression, is going to be a work of some magnitude for those concerned. It is as well that the city has a supplementary supply of artesian water

from Gear Island, Lower Hutt, in case there happens to be another long dry summer such as the one now drawing to a close, for the exhibition’s consumption of water yill equal that of another suburb. Not only will there be thousands of people to cater for in the ordinary way, but the inner grounds are to be decorated with elaborate electric-

lighted fountains. It may be possible to use the same water over and over again for this purpose, but even that cannot be done without using some clarifying agent from time to time. It is imperative that the mains shall be of a size to carry' sufficient water for fire suppression. The water wiy have to be reticulated over the whole of the thirteen acres of building, so as to be ready for any emergency.

Drainage—storm water and sewage

—also concerns the city engineer’s department. The sewage problem is not involved, as. the main sewer from Wellington’ city to the sea near the Heads passes near the grounds of the ex-

hibition. Another department that is vitally concerned is the tramways and electricity department. People will want to reach the exhibition from town as quickly as possible, and the department is planning to accelerate tlie present tramway service, to add to th& rollingstock mid supply a fleet of new’ motorbuses that will run to Rongotai via the traffic tunnel and by way of Oriental and Evans Bay. The department also has to supply the electrical energy required for lighting the great building, for the elaborate electrically lighted decorations, including the tower and the fountains, and be prepared to supply power for the hundred and one requirements of exhibitors within the building, the amusement park and athletic reserve outside, and the new approaches to the grounds. The traffic department will be very much concerned in the management of tlie crowds of people, " and fleets of motor-cars and buses that willassuredly be on hand from the time the exhibition, open until it closes.