ONE YEAR AFTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21100, 6 February 1932, Page 11

ONE YEAR AFTER.

BAY'S TBAVAIL. administration. 1 . S£SUILDiNG OF CHURCHES. N-- 'vy+t&B Napier par lie library, the maniti- ; "lsths, ..and tie municipal abattoirs afl jJen reKcred ;c :he point where ■far' tn able to fund ;on and provide ■ services. None of these serf ■ is : they are social > that musi be provided for oat of - '"Whatever the standard of their jptinisHiaafe fcr;s been in the past, the • —igfcv of the commissioners is and (for general reason?" mast be to provide a CSB cocsist.eEt. with the financial 're- ■■' of the present times. • "J3» rebn£c..rc of the ■wrecked MuniciTheatre ha? not been considered; so jj, the heavy cost, of clearing the site fag prevented even that work from being jflgerta&en.' Delay by the commissioners gjHßselve.s i 3 clearing this site has ex■'ajieS some remark, bnt not from anyone njhn is awarp of the remarkable amount j£nrork cone in restoring drainage and I- -water services. Probably the cost of reamring 'the mass of brick will not in {Jib end be very high. One professional mm stated thai -when he was urged soon if? after the quake -to clear a property over be had tw-wer of attorney he was qacted a pnye e:~ £2IS. which he declined. fimre. then the use of bricks for panels : jn steel structures has been approved, gnd to-day numbers of men are making, a good profit, :n cleaning and selling sound frrw-ks which had been dumped. Because of tie value of the bricks the section i in question is now being cleared for £53. Transport Facilities. |;• A new municipal theatre is quite bevnnd the resources of the town at present, so Hastings, with its restored municipal theatre, will draw some revenue from the Xapier people on special occasions. Transport 'facilities have beer, the subt: jo of conferences between the commissioners and the Borough CounciL It has 4 bran decided not to resume the running ; 'i- of ihe trams. This means, of course, that .?. interest and sinking fund must be borne 1 • by the rates, bnt the position is that they i always have been borne by the rates, even ■I whQe the trams were running, and the v discontinuance oi the tram service results | in a saving of some thousands of pounds f: ■. par annum. Up to the present time, the ' transport far£hiies have been left to an § . almost unrestricted exercise of private | enterprise. As from March 1 the matter f• must be dealt with by the newly-consti- £; tnted Transport Authority. I'; An arrangement was made with the ; owner of a property in a convenient posif;:. &o whereby this was made available for r- » camp sit£ for visiting motorists. The btEungh supplied sanitary conveniences :i, and cleared the section, and the owner provided attendaifce and supervision, not £ only of the camp on his own property, but on an adjoining area made available by f the borough. The system seems to have v worked well, and several letters have been | received from satisfied visitors. The pre- :: sent arrangement is temporary, and tbe £■■ provision oi a permanent camping site J; must be considered as one of the neces|!V sary town improvements of the future. |:;V , Private Enterprise. ■ Mast'.of the rebuilding of the town is j Erected and financed either by tbe private j % -enterprise of. owners or by authorities J pv other than the borough. The present ' g- : -v state cf progress speaks for itself. The i f - commissioners have maps of the borough | ' lowing by shading and colours the pro|v; gress cf rebuilding operations, and at the S-'* . present time it is found difficult to keep J:., iiis map atp to date, so rapid is the }, progress.

jffeiX "The borough is responsible for the ereci- - iku of a tiro-storey modern building 011 2': '.*is± is known as the market reserve ilock. The finance of this had been | arranged prior to the earthquake. bat as §to-?&e result ©i the destruction of the town lbs proposed lenders naturally desired to v reconsider the -matter, and the commis|:;sraoners felt,that in common fairness they should be giren an oppcrl unity to do so. The commissioners took the matter np again in April, and Mr. Barton. S.M.. j,"' 5 Tsiied Wellington and had an interview ;. vith the lenders, the position and prospects of the tcrwn were canvassed, the loan was made available, and as a result the ■ ' Building is now in course of erection. 2he leaders, the National Mutual Life S ■ Assoination. have by this arrangement ; aiade £29,000 available on quite favour:?|;aible terms to the borough. - The future of the block of borough buildings, bounded by the Parade, Brownjag Street and Herschell Street is bound tip "with the future of Marine Parade im- !■;. J®ffvemen}s. The policy of the commissoners is that in the present financial 'j Sate of the borough the esistinc build- | .aga must continue to serve their purJposes, but. no use will be made of any of 'tSttse buildings or sites inconsistent with &e comprehensive plans which have been , drawn np for the eventual iay-out of the j; JEa-front. Places of Worship. iv-'V Hirobffh the generous assistance of J. PWeut' ehcrches the places of worship in Sapier have been replaced by suitable ; .'.feudinjrs, which will meet the needs of *.number oc years. The beautiful St. •John's Cathedral, with its ivy-clad wails, l . tes been replaced by a substantial wooden biding accommodating about •'.8)0 peonie. at an approximate cost of , ; ; £3ooo. The new building stands on the of th? old cathedral and has been .•i£«pecia2y designed to enable a new catbe- ,• &al to be erected over it when the • can nndertake such an expendiinre. The diocesan buildings, completed ~3nst before the calamity, have been re- ; I^Boadxtioned. .while a large Church Army . has been bu:lt to further the social ■I *®'k of the Church. The fine new St. Paul's Presbyterian Qrarcb, which was to have been opened fartq/ght after the earthquake, still "v *knds in ruins, but the authorities lost '• ® time in erecUng a new building to -aocommod&t.a abort 500 people, and erecta large Sunday SchooL thus en- •• the w?rk of the Church to proceed « : Blmnpeded. nota/hle engineering feat was the ..viating and restoring of a three-storey concrete building at Mount St. Seminary, severely, but 3n examination of ground floor showed that it had rerJSflPonded vcnderfxtilv to the monolithic ; ; SNities claimed ior a reinforced struc- * Tp"® - -The litinic forces at work brought Jr t^3e P ar? ;,ii c-ojlapse of the ground .in'iart.; in fact, not a single pane •,;■->fir .was cracked, and every door Sg-W open fr r -f :y. The mission autborisafe. decided :n;;- ;<s attempt should be raise tiiß '•uilding and recondi.'.irf"- it- Ihe necessary piant bad to be irc-Ki Erg]and. .The work of ;3T™ b P> mewss of a number of powergjjjt jacks, ocvipied seven full working ' , : S" 36B ' carried out skilfully, without ;JPnp slightest mishap. The building is •Jsoccapied.