Media release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, 13 October 2013

Getting into the swing of the 1960s on Upper Hutt’s Main Street are Reid Perkins, Sarah Garnham, Mike Thomson, and Jane Comben.

Two sixties-themed exhibitions will be running from late October to early November in commemorating Upper Hutt’s 50 years as a city.

UPPER HUTT, Wellington NZ, 13 OCT 2016—The 1960s are coming back to Upper Hutt’s city centre. As part of celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Upper Hutt becoming a city, the City Council and local retailers are running two sixties-themed exhibitions.

Going under the name ‘Back in the Day: Upper Hutt in the 1960s,’ a temporary pop-up museum will feature a range of historic photographs and publications representative of the decade, along with period films and artefacts acquired from various sources. It will also make extensive use of extracts from the oral history project that Upper Hutt City Library has been conducting throughout the year, recording local people’s memories of this time.

“We ran a very popular pop-up museum on the history of Main Street a couple of years ago in The Mall,” explains the Library’s Heritage and Research Coordinator Reid Perkins. “We thought it would be great to do another one commemorating the vibrant, transformative decade in which Upper Hutt was proclaimed a city.”

“Arkwright’s Empire has very generously allowed us to use space within their premises which will remain open for business while our exhibition is on,” says Mr Perkins. He adds that a temporary room is being specially built inside the shop to accommodate the museum using timber donated by Mitre 10 MEGA. “It’s certainly something different and we hope the public will be keen to come and visit us during the three weeks we’re open and learn something about their city’s recent past.”

A retail trail called ‘Walk Down Memory Lane’ will be running at the same time as the pop-up museum. This city centre exhibition trail is comprised of participating stores specially decorating their shop windows to reflect the 1960s theme.

“We have over 25 businesses participating in the Walk Down Memory Lane,” says Council’s Retail Coordinator, Sarah Garnham, “Each retailer will create a retro widow display, reflecting the kinds of services and merchandise that their business would have traded in fifty years ago. Visitors will be treated to nostalgic glimpses of the shopping experience back in the sixties.”

The Back in the Day: Upper Hutt in the 1960s pop-up museum will be running between 22 October and 6 November at Arkwright’s Empire, 138 Main Street. The Walk Down Memory Lane retail trail will be on at various locations throughout the city centre from 22 October to 14 November.

About Upper Hutt City Council

Upper Hutt City Council is the steward and custodian of Upper Hutt City, providing governance, infrastructure, and community services and resources, and promoting opportunity in the city for business, recreation, lifestyle, and leisure. Upper Hutt City is located 30 km north-east of Wellington City (41°07'34" S, 175°04'06" E) and boasts 70% of the region’s parks and reserves, along with state-of-the-art entertainment and leisure facilities.

For more information on Upper Hutt City and the City Council, go to www.upperhuttcity.com

This media release is also available on our website: www.upperhuttcity.com/2016/10/13/sixties-return-upper-hutts-main-street/

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