Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Toxic mould opens up new possibilities for CBD

John Cousins
By John Cousins
Senior reporter, Bay of Plenty Times·Bay of Plenty Times·
1 Jun, 2015 09:45 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Architectural designer Phil Green advocates big changes to the council's civic block. Photo / George Novak

Architectural designer Phil Green advocates big changes to the council's civic block. Photo / George Novak

A boldnew vision for Tauranga's embattled downtown has emerged from the shock discovery of toxic black mould in the council's leaking civic block.

Instead of the buildings being a problem that needed to be patched up, community groups have urged the council to treat it as an opportunity to solve long-standing downtown issues, including that the best site for a museum was in the city's cultural heart - not Cliff Rd.

Read more: Toxic mould offices emptied in clean-up
Photos show toxic mould
Rates surplus to fund mould clean-up
Tauranga's $1m toxic mould removal

"We are a contemporary city, let's move into the future," Phil Green of the Grace Rd and Neighbourhood Residents Association said.

Engineers have identified "significant" weathertightness problems and a moderate earthquake risk in two of the four buildings that made up the civic centre.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A report due to go to the council this week said the issues with the buildings were serious enough to warrant other options being considered - beyond remedying structural issues. Councillors will consider looking at all the issues and opportunities associated with the future of the buildings.

Mr Green, an architectural designer, has suggested shifting the civic offices to a new building on the the council-owned former TV-3 building foundations opposite Baycourt.

He said the buildings at the Wharf St end of the civic block had nothing going for them, leaked, and should be demolished. The space could become an open plaza.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Green said the original 1960s administration building at the Hamilton St end of the site had some merit and could be stripped back to its bones and rebuilt as the museum. It would also incorporate the library's New Zealand Room archives, leaving the main library to go into the ground floor of the new building in Durham St.

"The leaking buildings have become the catalyst to change the city centre into something that we can all be proud of. It will give us that heart that has been lacking," he said.

Mr Green said others were thinking along similar lines including Tauranga's influential new Civic Amenities Group, submitters to the council's 10-year plan and councillors. Architectural designers planned to hold a public forum on the issue in August or September.

He also saw a merit in turning Willow St where it fronted the civic block and art gallery into a pedestrian precinct that linked through to The Strand and waterfront. The bus terminus would shift to Durham St.

Discover more

Tauranga's $1m toxic mould removal

02 Feb 04:55 AM

Council says 'no' to Tauranga cycleway

03 Feb 02:00 AM

Photos show toxic mould

12 Feb 12:17 AM

Toxic mould offices emptied in clean-up

01 Mar 07:30 PM

Mayor Stuart Crosby agreed that the time was right to look at the big picture and leverage the council's planned $40 million investment in the CBD to stimulate the downtown. It included a $4m contingency fund to fix the civic buildings, up to $28m for a new parking building and $8m on the waterfront upgrade.

He said the council needed to consider that most big commercial entities and government departments did not own their buildings.

Mr Crosby supported the sentiments of Mr Green, including the museum being sited in the downtown, but not all the details. He said the newer civic buildings still had life left in them once they had been fixed.

He advocated running a competition to pick up on all the ideas floating around, working up to a final proposal by the end of the year. "The council is under no pressure to do anything."

Civic Amenities Group member Graeme Horsley said the museum should be sited adjacent to the art gallery.

Tauranga's biggest problem was that the spread of commercial centres had put the heart of the city under immense pressure, and the opportunities created by the civic buildings investigation was now on the group's table.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty TimesUpdated

Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

11 Jul 03:01 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Theatre stalwart's triumphant return after PTSD recovery

11 Jul 02:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Moments are priceless': Silver Ferns stars reunite for TV reality show

11 Jul 12:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

11 Jul 03:01 AM

Power was cut to 21,529 customers at 12.30pm in Tauranga.

Theatre stalwart's triumphant return after PTSD recovery

Theatre stalwart's triumphant return after PTSD recovery

11 Jul 02:00 AM
'Moments are priceless': Silver Ferns stars reunite for TV reality show

'Moments are priceless': Silver Ferns stars reunite for TV reality show

11 Jul 12:00 AM
Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP