NEWS RELEASE
24 August 2007

Karori town centre buildings to be removed

The final stage of the Karori Centre Project is about to start with the removal of some of the old wooden buildings on the St John’s site to allow for the construction of gardens and a walkway.

The buildings to be removed are the wooden hall, the lighthouse building, the Opp Shop building and the garage. The St John’s building will remain and the land formerly occupied by the lighthouse building will be fenced off until a decision about the site’s future is made by the Council in 2009. The Council has approved the temporary use of the St John’s building for community groups that are currently using the old wooden hall.

Councillors have also granted the Karori Community Hall Replacement Committee five years to fundraise and build a new hall on the land adjacent to the community centre. The rest of the area will be landscaped and a walkway constructed linking Karori Road to the community centre.

Wellington City Council’s Manager of Public Space Design, Geoffrey Snedden, says it’s great to see the end in sight for the Karori upgrade project.

“This has been an ambitious project that has had a lot of public input and achieved a great deal of success over the course of several years. We’ve built a new library and café, new community centre and town square as well as improved pedestrian access and parking.

“The removal of the old buildings marks the end of an era but the reality is that they have come to the end of their useful life and no longer serve the community’s needs. Significant work would need to be done to soundproof the wooden hall and even then it still wouldn’t be appropriate as a community facility.”

A number of items from the old wooden hall will be saved and stored to be reused as part of landscaping the site and for the future hall project. These include the foundation stone, stained glass windows and some doors, architraves and bullnose capping from within the building. The gum tree will be removed, however the golden totara, planted by the Reverend Michael Chester in 1984, will be replanted within the landscaped area.

Removal work will start on Friday 14 September and be completed before the Karori Festival in mid-October. The landscaping work will commence at the end of October and be completed by March 2008. This phase of the project will cost around $360,000.

ENDS

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