Thank you New Zealand! You¹ve saved Sir Ed's Antarctic hut!

Media release for immediate use, Thursday 26 January 2017

Thank you New Zealand! You’ve saved Sir Ed’s Antarctic hut!

A million dollar project to save Sir Ed’s hut in Antarctica is now largely complete.

Thousands of New Zealanders chipped in to help save Hillary’s Hut – mostly during a 2012-kilometre tractor journey, Expedition South, to raise the funds required.

For the past three months, the Antarctic Heritage Trust has had a team of 12 carpenters and conservation specialists on the Ice saving the hut and conserving the hundreds of artefacts within it.

The Trust’s Executive Director Nigel Watson says they have now finished the major restoration.

“The hut has been extensively renovated and is now asbestos-free. It has also been repainted to its original colours – bright orange and yellow. It certainly stands out among Scott Base’s green buildings.”

The Trust’s team painstakingly conserved more than 500 artefacts – including two Marcus King paintings that were conserved under the guidance of Sir Ed’s daughter Sarah Hillary at Auckland Art Gallery.

The Trust’s Programme Manager Lizzie Meek says the logistical challenges involved in the project were enormous.

“The extreme weather conditions and cold temperatures can freeze or change the materials you’re working with and, of course, you can’t exactly pop down to your local hardware shop to buy additional materials,” says Lizzie.

Lizzie Meek says the most noticeable change to the hut is the repainting of the exterior to its original colours.

“The team at Dulux New Zealand put in a huge amount of work taking the original 1957 colour from the archive and recreating it using specialist tinters. The result is identical.”

“We’ve now aptly named the yellow ‘Pram Point’ (the geographic location of Scott Base) and the orange ‘Sno-cat’ after the bright orange tracked vehicle used in Antarctica in 1957,” says Lizzie.

Nigel Watson says Sir Ed’s hut wouldn’t have been saved without the help of New Zealanders.

“It also wouldn’t have been restored without the help and support of Antarctica New Zealand – this is another example of the incredible work they enable at Scott Base.”

The New Zealand Government also made a generous contribution to the fundraising campaign with Hon. Maggie Barry announcing the final $180,000 of support.

“So thank you New Zealand... you have saved a Kiwi icon. Hillary’s Hut is the birthplace of Kiwi leadership in Antarctica, it’s where Sir Ed began his famous tractor trip to the South Pole and is Scott Base’s first building.”

“It’s a valuable slice of Kiwi history that could have been lost. Now, thanks to thousands of New Zealanders, it will be there to inspire future generations to explore our great outdoors like Sir Ed did,” says Nigel Watson.

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