WOULD HELP THINGS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 40, 17 February 1932, Page 6

WOULD HELP THINGS

MOUNT COOK SCHEME

AMENDMENT SUGGESTED

A leading city builder, speaking to a . "Post" reporter .'to-day,-', pid that 1 every man in the Mildin'g' trade in ' Wellington, whether principal, journey- ; man, or apprentice, was waiting with 1 very real interest for the arfswer which J would be made by the Government to ■ the representations made that a start i upon the National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum buildings on Mount I Cook should bo made right away, with, < as had been proposed,-the £70j000 at ' present in hand or within reach of the ■ Board of Trustees, with a small* grant ! from the Government and 'oh the understanding that further Government contributions would be made later.' { "The position," he said," is/that i the; Government agreed, while times were good, to find & 100,000 when Wei- ! lington people had subscribed £100,000. ■ The campaign launched by Mr. G. A. Troup,;as Mayor, was signally success- ; ful, and though not all the amount '. promised has yet been received, by far '. the greater proportion of the city's £100,000 is in hand or could be now ■obtained. It is, of course, idle to ask the Government to-day to honour the undertaking it gave, four years ago,1 for tho Government has not; got,v£loo,ooo : to spare. On the other hand,'the building industry in Wellington; is frankly in. a bad way at present., There .are hundreds of vgood; men out.'of work ana with no hope of regular work ahead for many of them, and so keen, is the,com- ' petition for the few, jobs ih.harid thkt principals are not in any better fix. The expenditure of £70,000 would mean a very great deal for those men, and for the much greater number amongst whom their wages would circulate, and that money is available for expenditure to-day, providing that a satisfactory agreement'can bo reached between the Government and the Board of Trustees regarding the completion of the work." In his opinion, the board and the Government would be wise to consider, the question of straight-out concrete construction in place of the stone-faced building now planned, and were that done, ho believed, it would be found possible to authorise a, commencement without delay, for the difference between modem concrete construction and stone facing was so great that the call up on the Government for the completion of- the building would be very much lightened. Desirable as etone work might, be in a building-such as had been planned for the national group on Monnt Cook, he had always doubted'whether it couia be justified in view-Of the: great difference in cost and the fact that a modern concrete structure, possessed real and lasting architectural