Contractors remove a large stained glass window from the main entrance of Tauranga council's former building. New CBD artwork Midnight Sun can be seen from across the road. Photo / Mead Norton
Contractors remove a large stained glass window from the main entrance of Tauranga council's former building. New CBD artwork Midnight Sun can be seen from across the road. Photo / Mead Norton
A relic of Tauranga's civic history dating as far back as 106 years ago has been salvaged as work to demolish the city's former council building continues.
The stained glass window formed part of Tauranga City Council's main entrance on Willow St and was created in 1989. It featured thepanelling of two windows created from the damaged glass of the old town hall which stood in the same location from 1916 to 1987.
Information provided by creative industries consultancy Supercut Projects stated that when architect Ian Carter was looking for art projects, as part of the construction of the new city council and library civic precinct, he selected two designs from Viewpoint studio by artist Neale Blaymires.
Blaymires and fellow artist Paula Dennison were commissioned to construct the two designs. The first creation was titled: From Chaos to Order. This was the window above the Willow St entrance.
This large work depicted the "big bang" with a crystal-studded nucleus exploding blue and red glass across a blue sky.
A large stained glass window is seen in this photo of former council staff member Susan Jamieson incorporated windows from Tauranga's old Town Hall. Photo / George Novak
A Māori design element, a single streak of clear glass, was contributed by renowned master carver Tuti Tukaokao. At the centre of the work are two windows from the original town hall.
The two windows, originally four damaged town hall windows, were salvaged by Blaymires and Dennison who restored them with designs incorporating floral arrangements with garlands of red roses and "heavenly trumpet" flowers, draped and suspended within panes.
The second stained glass creation was titled: Creation of Language. This was placed above the entrance to the library. It was a semicircle with three sections of distorted vowels floating across panels. A poutama (stairway to heaven) pattern sat at the base of the work, the information said.
Last week, the windows were carefully removed by contractors tasked with the demolition of the three-storey building. Nothing was broken in the process.
A stained glass window above Tauranga City Council's former library can be seen in this school strike for climate protest, pictured in April 2021. Photo / George Novak
Council senior programme manager Beau Fraser said contractors LT McGuiness had nearly completed the soft strip out of the building "which involved removing the canopies on the sides of the building and an interior strip out".
Scaffolding was being put up for the next stage of external demolition.
The demolition is expected to be completed in October.
Fraser said the stained glass windows were now being stored with the council's heritage collection facility and the council was "currently exploring options" for how they can best be displayed and enjoyed by the community in the future.
Work continues to demolish Tauranga City Council's former building. Photo / Mead Norton
