Planned demolition of hospital stirs Aucklanders' memories

By ANNE GIBSON Property editor

The demolition firm knocking %down the former St Helen's maternity %hospital in Auckland aims to salvage as much as it can from the building.

Ward Demolition is aiming to recover the clay roof tiles, native timber floor boards, rimu roof framing, joists, some window frames and perhaps even bricks from the job.

The 1906 hospital, on the corner of Hopetoun and Pitt Sts, will be taken down over the next few weeks to make room for 34 apartments, to be called the Hopetoun urban zone.

Internal demolition begins on Monday, followed a week later by the arrival of an excavator that will be used to make the building collapse in on itself.

Ward is charging $40,000 to knock down the building and remove materials from the site, said its operations manager, Randal Owles.

The demolition of St Helen's has stirred the memories of Aucklanders, many of whom have contacted developer Ken Kells, of Kells Group, and real estate agent Virgil Roberts, of Barfoot & Thompson, following a Weekend Herald article on July 7-8.

This covered the hospital's history, including the fact that Prime Minister Richard ("King Dick") Seddon was on his way back from Australia to open it when he died at sea.

Diana Bean of Whangaparaoa said her husband, Richard J. Seddon Bean, was the great-grandson of the late Prime Minister and they were looking for an item from the building that could be incorporated into a villa they were restoring.

Many other people have contacted Mr Kells to tell of their association with the building and some have asked for tours.

"But wall linings are falling off and we can't take people through because it's unsafe," Mr Kells said.

Jenny Francis of central Auckland wrote questioning the idea of buying an apartment in the new development, saying residents would be plagued by noise.

"If it was too noisy in 1938, what will it be like in 2001?

"I have lived happily in the inner city for 10 years in a quiet one-way street with no traffic lights, fire station or buses. "I would advise future apartment buyers to remember the old adage, 'position, position.'

"The site would have to be one of the busiest traffic crossroads in the entire country, not to mention the fire station and the fumes."

But Mr Kells said the apartments would include hush glass, insulation and special wall linings to reduce noise.

He said construction would start around September.

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Hopetoun urban zone