EXHIBITION HOTEL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 139, 15 June 1939, Page 10

EXHIBITION HOTEL

A NEW LOCATION

KILBIRNIE RECLAMATION

LEASE OF FIVE YEARS

Though the necessity of additional hotel and lodging accommodation during the Exhibition period was at once generally admitted when ihe announcement was made j£ intention to build an Exhibition Hotel, there were some misgivings

over the expenditure of upward.'-* of £30,000 upon a building which would have an available life of si>* months only, as would probably have been so had the hote.< been erected on the Exhibition area at Rongotai, so closely adjacent to the airport. The City Council last night had before it, and adopted, a proposal that the hotel should .be built at the southern end of the recent addition to the Kilbirnie reclamation.

The Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hisiop, said today that he thought the new site was in many ways preferable. He had thought from the beginning that it was desirable that provision should^ be made for the hotel to, remain in use for a longer term than the six months of the Exhibition, so that it could be of value in relieving the standing accommodation difficulty in Wellington, but though the Kilbirnie site had been in mind, there had earlier appeared to be certain difficulties in the way. However, these were now overcome, i "I accordingly recommended to the council last night," said Mr. Hislop, "that we should make available a site onr the new reclamation inside the causeway road at its southern end. This reclamation has an area of about five acres, which the council had agreed to make av/ailable to the Exhibition Company, free of charge, as a parking area. The Exhibition Hotel will occupy approximately threequarters of an acre, which will be available, as the rest of the parking space, free of charge during the Exhibition period, but in view of the desirability of making it possible for the hotel to remain in service after the actual run of the Exhibition, the council has agreed to the use of the land for a period not exceeding five years. After the close of the Exhibition a rental and rates will be charged on a basis to be determined by the City Valuer. The question of the actual method of use of the hotel after the Exhibition will be decided later. "Personally, I think that the new arrangement is an eminently satisfactory one and will prove of real community benefit as well as giving the special accommodation which everyone agrees will be very necessary for the visitors the city is inviting next summer." ACCOMMODATION FOR 600. The change of site involved consequential alterations in plans, as in changes in materials and amendment of interior, as well as of exterior, arrangements, particularly in the provision of larger dining-rooms, for had the hotel gone up on the Exhibition grounds visitors would have had near at hand the dining-rooms and cafeteria in the main buildings. The accommodation proposed in the first place was for a maximum of about 700 guests, but the amendments to the plans would reduce the number to about 600 as a maximum, and probably to a normal number of 550. The plans and specifications would be fully in accord with the requirements of the City Engineer and the Superintendent of the Fire Brigade as to elimination of fire risk. As the time available for erection is now very short, said Mr. Hislop, an immediate start must be made on the site; preliminary work had already been commenced upon the making of doors, interior fittings, and furnishings. THE ACCOMMODATION BUREAU. Mr. Hislqp said that the response of citizens to make accommodation available in private homes during the six months from November to May had been very pleasing. "So far 2000 rooms have been placed at the disposal of the bureau in Featherston Street and the number is steadily going up," said Mr. Hislop. "In practically every case those who have come forward do not at present take in boarders or let their rooms, and altogether the response is very encouraging and indicative of the willing cooperation of citizens and their desire to make the Exhibiton a success." Mr. Hislop asked that those who have not yet communicated with the officer in charge of the bureau but who can assist should do so as soon as possible, for it was intended in the course of the next few days to issue | throughout New Zealand, and to thej agencies of the bureau, information and i particulars of the accommodation which would be available, including that to be provided at the Exhibition Hotel. Visitors planning trips to Wellington 'would then know in advance all the necessary details as to location, charges, and so on.