Media Release

Town clock all class

The repainting of the Robinson Memorial town clock, completed last month, has the community buzzing with comments about the colour and style.

Planning and development group manager Nedine Thatcher-Swann says though we’ve had a mixed response to the heritage colour scheme chosen, largely positive comments have complimented on the simple and classic style.

The colour scheme was chosen with advice from heritage building conservators Salmond Reed Architects, who are also working with Council on the Wyllie Cottage restoration.

The town clock is a Category B heritage building in the District Plan.

The palette of subtle tones rather than bold, contrasting colours, aims to emphasize the architectural dimensions and patterns, highlighting the height of the clock tower as the original design intended.

The repainting was carried out by First-Class Decorators who tendered for the contract to repaint the clock. Ms Thatcher-Swann says the job required contractors to take a lot of care and attention to detail.

“The plaster on the clock is brittle and so instead of water blast cleaning in preparation for painting, contractors washed the clock by hand and hand sanded in order to preserve the delicate masonry.”

Four coats of Wattyl Solar Guard paint in colours Eighth Masala and Alto were applied to the clock.

“In order to achieve the tinge of grey, the paint had a ‘mauve’ applied to it which is why in certain light it can appear as if the previous salmon colour is coming through,” says Ms Thatcher-Swann.

Staining or mixing with different colours is quite common in decorating as this is done to achieve different colour tones.

The total project cost was $31k which included architect consultant fees, scaffolding, cleaning and sanding preparation, sealing, paint and labour, and a substantial traffic management plan.

“Working in the road corridor carries massive risks, and in order to ensure the safety of the public as well as contractors we needed quite stringent traffic management in place, which was monitored on a daily basis,” says Ms Thatcher-Swann.

“We also wanted to reduce the impact to retailers during the project.

“The work was completed safely and we think the result is a respectful and elegant centre piece for our city.”

Included in the costs, the base of the clock which receives the most damage and traffic exhausts, will be repainted annually for the next five years to keep the paint job looking fresh.

Lighting at the base of the clock will also be renewed. Mechanical work to repair the clock’s timepieces is still underway, the new clock should be telling the right time in early May.

ENDS

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