NOT YET SETTLED

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 116, 20 May 1925, Page 6

NOT YET SETTLED

REST-ROOM QUESTION

WILL RESERVE BE SPOILED ?

WHY OBJECTIONS ARE TAKEN TO

PLANS,

The questions of whether the building of the women's rest room in Manners street should be proceeded with in its present position, whether the reserve will'be spoiled, whether the location is suitable for such a building, either from the city or a woman's point of view, are still being debated. And meanwhile the k work of laying down the foundations for the building is going ahead. The general opinion among womenfolk is probably summed up in the remarks of Miss Kirk, secretary of the Society for the Protection .of Women and. Children, who ■. remarked to a "Post" reporter this morning: "If it is possible to get ,soriiething better, then let us have it, even if it should mean a little delay, but if it is to be a rest room in the position as decided upon by the old council or no rest room at all, then let us have it as it is."

The Market square^ reserve has a history, and when it first came into being as a reserve it had a price, the lordly sum of ss, which was demanded from and paid by the townsmen of Wellington in 1867 to the Featherston ; Provincial Government prior to' the , passing over of the land to be devoted to a market reserve or other public . utility. Stamp duty was. a more expensive consideration in that transaction than the price paid for the land, the larger sum of 10s. To-day that land might.be worth nearer £500 per foot than 5s for the whole area. The stamp duty alone would stagger a very great many people. THE OPEK,. SPACE --AN IDEAL. It was apparently always in mind that the reserve should be kef* as an open space, or a more or less opec space, at any ( rate, but that was always—after the/Market square idea had been given up, very many years ago—merely an ideal, something for the future, and buildings of "one sort or another covered the. full area. A fire brigade station—with the cells arranged so close to the footways of Manners and Dixon streets that passers-by were parties and listeners-in to conversations carried on within, generally most unwilling listeners. The two stations were removed elsewhere and the buildings used for other purposes. At other times, other buildings, none remarkable for beauty of. architecture, none fitting in with the ideal of an open space,-and, fortunately, none of the older buildings built to last for all time. They, too, have gone, and the greater part of the reserve is at any rate an. open space at last, if by no means a beautiful one. It has, at least, 'great possibilities. A VACANT SECTION. The land on which the Royal Oak Hotel stands, and also a section measuring somewhere about 60 by 75 feet, is a part of this reserve, and is held upon long lease from the City Council by the proprietors of the hotel. From time- to time suggestions haveibeen made for the resumption of the, section thus held h\ii, j not built upon, but negotiations have," not so far resulted in business done. It is possible, inquiries would show, that the matter may now-be opened up again, and iv that event the question of the. most suitable placing of the rest room upon the reserve takes on a new aspect. THE PLACING OF THE BUILDING.

Assuming that the city did resumo this portion of the lease and the rest room was proceeded with where, the foundations are now being laid, there would be an open space between the hotel and the rest room of something like sixty feet. ■It would be an open space, but it would be a difficult area to deal with; it could get no afternoon sun, heavy planting is not always desirable in the immediate vicinity of a rest room for reasons which need not be elaborated upon, and the rest room, placed well out in what may be made a wonderfully attractive spot in midcity, would be prominently placed, too ■prominently, say those who oppose its present location, and the useable portion of the reserve would be cut down to the sharply narrowing apex of the triangle. •

Upon-the possibility of the resumption of this vacant section there is nothmg_ definite as yet; it is an old question which may still be discussed much further. " : . - ■, ■ ■ . ■

Several plans have been "roughed out_ for the ■improvement of the area available to the council. One was that a _ roadway should be; cut through to give an easier access from Manners to Dixon street, a more recent suggestion was that the Wellington citizens' memorial to the fallen should be erected there, and the present decision is that a ladies' rest room shall bo erected upon ifc. ■...-■■ *"

WHERE THE BUSINESS MEN

CAME-IN.

A body of business men, representative of the Courtenay Place Ratepayers' Association, stated one of the selfformed committee to a "Post" reporter to-day, was in touch with the position, and last March, after the decision had been reached.to place the war memorial in front of Parliamentary Buildings, communicated with the Civic League with a view to ascertaining what use would be made of the reserve. At, one of the meetings a motion was passed to the effect that the - matter should be further gone intp on the appointment of the new council. Being busy men, they did not notice advertisements calling for tenders- for the erection of the rest room, and the first intimation they had of the present scheme was when' they saw a fencing placed round the area to' be built on. A request was made by the committee for an inspection of the plans, and this wac readily agreed to by the city authorities. It-was considered that the building would be too prominently placed, both in relation to Courtenay place and the tall buildings which are bound, to be erected in the very near future overlooking the area. Those objections were stated by a deputation which waited upon the Mayor. Miss Kirk, who some days ago had expressed herself as of the opinion that the rest room as planned would be satisfactory, and that no rearrangement of the building was necessary, if provision was made for the screening off of.the entrance to afford just a little more privacy, stated to-day that it was only last evening that she learned that there was any possibility of the council resuming the vacant section at the back of the hotel. If there was a reasonable likelihood that that would take place, then she would certainly consider that the rest room should be placed further from the apex of the triangle of land, that better use could be made of the reserve as a whole, and also that the building would hot be so prominently placed. ' "I am rather inclined to think, however," said Miss Kirk, "that possibly too much has been made of the necessity for privacy. I certainly do not think that a, rest room should be placed down an alley way; there is absolutely no need for anything of that kind. It is not done in other cities; all that is dona is that such buildings are wisely placed to af-

ford sufficient privacy. If it were possible the very best arrangement would be the erection of buildings which would serve more than the purposes of a, rest room, a building in which might be placed offices which would serve as headquarters for_ the various women's societies. The difficulty, however, is that our societies, supported for th'o most part by voluntary subscription, are not wealthy."