Restored turret caps year of progress for Arts Centre

The Arts Centre will cap off a year of significant progress with the restoration of one of its best-known architectural features, the College Hall turret.

The turret, which has been extensively strengthened and restored, will be craned into position atop College Hall on Rolleston Avenue on Tuesday 2 December. Removed after the September 2010 earthquake, the 21-tonne structure will be lifted into place using a 160-tonne crane before being fastened into a new concrete ring.

Extensively renovated by Fletcher Construction Company and Arts Centre stonemasons over the last 6 months, the turret has been relined with concrete, replacing the original interior brickwork, and the entire tower structure reinforced with concrete and steel. Once completed, the turret will be tied through the tower to a new footing at pavement level with steel rods.

Around 10 percent of the exterior stonework has been replaced by the Arts Centre’s team of stonemasons, repairing the damage suffered in the region’s first major earthquake.

Arts Centre CEO André Lovatt says the restoration is symbolic of the progress made on-site – not just in terms of restoration but also earthquake strengthening.

“We were very fortunate to have the turret survive that original earthquake, and even more so that the decision was taken to remove the structure prior to February 2011 or damage to this section of the site could have been far more significant,” says Mr Lovatt.

During the September 2010 earthquake, the turret broke free of its footing and rotated in place about 50mm.

“Like the Clock Tower on Worcester Boulevard, the turret on Rolleston Avenue is one of the site’s most recognisable features – especially to visitors to the Botanic Gardens.”

“As we progress towards the completion of College Hall – set to reopen in 2015 – we are very pleased to have the structure completed and strengthened to a level where we can now proudly display such a unique feature.”

Arts Centre Site Manager Chris Whitty, who has been maintaining and protecting the site’s heritage buildings for over 26 years, says that although there have been a number of major milestones in the Art’s Centre restoration throughout the year, this one will be special.

“This is a huge milestone for us that reflects the efforts of the whole team. It’s a win for all of us – but I’ll be pretty excited to see the turret go back into place.”

The installation on the Rolleston Avenue frontage of the Arts Centre is expected to take around 2 hours, from 6am on Tuesday 2 December, weather permitting.

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