LOGAN PARK TAKING SHAPE

Evening Star, Issue 19614, 21 July 1927, Page 9

LOGAN PARK TAKING SHAPE

EXHIBITION BUILDINGS VANISHING SITES MOSTLY OBLITERATED Piloted by Mr G. Scotfcj of the Exhibition Demolition Company, a ‘ Star representative spent an hour at Logan Park this morning. The pcjling down of the Exhibition buildings is so far advanced that one has to think for a moment as to where they stood. The Canadian Court and the othei courts that were at the back of it have totally disappeared. _ The big motor pavilion also; there is no sign ot it. The ground on which they rested has been levelled, top-dressed with oin of clay, and roughly fenced in by the City Council’s Reserves Committee, and its men are now giving the final winter touches to a playing area that is intended to be planned as two Rugby grounds, one Soccer ground, and two hockey grounds. This area is to he ready for playing on next winter. The demolishing gang in the employ of Messrs Scott and Cooper are now razin'' tho last piece of what was known ns the British Court. Tho western avenue has gone entirely; not only the walls and roof, but also the flooring, and the men are now rapidly taking down (not breaking down) the shell of the eastern avenue. The roof is away, likewise the walling sheets, and tho joists, beams, and uprights are being pulled off and slid down shoots to bo received on the ground and stacked by sorters. The remains of this No. I building will be in stacks within a few days. The only structure now standing in recognisable shape is No. 2, that adjoined the British Court. It; the smallest of the seven buildings, is the store and workshop of the Demolition Company, and, of course, it will be the Inst to go. Already, however, preparations arc made for its doom. A\ben the roof is taken off a temporary cover will be put over the machinery, and it in turn will disappear when the last of the material is disposed of. _ _ Mr Scott guesses that the demolition will bo finally complete before the end of tho year—complete not only as a matter of pulling apart, but also as to the removal of the materials. For the wood and the glass and all tho rest ot the stuff that” the company procures from the razing is being quickly bought. Of the five million feet of timber, only about one million feet remains, Tho Oregon is all purchased; it was snapped up before it could be detached. The poilite, also, is sold. Mr Scott says that purchasers would have taken three times as much of it as ho had for sale. Tho glass of the upper portions had to bo tenderly handled. It was all packed on tho roof, the cases being hoisted there and moved about on trollies. so that the glass came down without scratch or break worth mentioning. That may he taken as an indication of the orderliness that has characterised the whole operations of tho Demolition Company. One might expect to see heaps of broken stuff about and a mountain of refuse. Nothing of tire sort. Tim wood that is left is stacked as in a timber yard, and all tho other, materials are properly sorted. The nails are all drawn from tho wood, and much of it is as good as if mover used. Tho selling system has worked very well. Scott and Cooper ligvc so managed affairs that their offerings to tho public have always been in fair proportion. It is not a. case of putting tho best stuff oji the market first and leaving to the last. So what remains is as good and as varied as any that has been sold. It is anticipated that everything will find buyers. A great heap of sawdust from the sizing saws seemed at first an unlikely proposition, but a purchaser came forward for 500 bags, and ’what is left is inconsiderable. It is ascertained, also, that the footplates of tho building, that had to be levered out of the sand, were found to be quite sound. The heart of red pine, miro, and kamahai that Fletcher and Love used for the foundations are none the worse. Tho only sign of decay was in the footplate from one small part of the motor pavilion. The ground on which stood the British Court and the structures at its rear is now being worked upon, ns it is cleared, by the corporation gangs, who are commencing to level what will be the University sports area. The smaller erections yet on the ground are the Maori house, tho band rotunda, the aquarium, tho rest room (now for tho caretaker), and the sports grand stand, which Mr W. M'Lellan is shifting round bodily.