City baptises its big transport baby

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The civic opening of the Britomart transport centre takes place today, but it will be two months before the finishing touches are complete and workmen leave the site.

About 400 invited guests will crowd into the old Chief Post Office at 2pm for Auckland City Mayor John Banks to open the centre.

The public will get their first glimpse of the restored building and grand entranceway to the underground railway station at an open day tomorrow.

The occasion marks the biggest council project in the history of the city. The plan had its beginnings in a modest plan to refurbish the rundown Britomart Place bus station.

It subsequently grew into a $1.5 billion commercial property and transport centre under former mayor Les Mills before being pegged back to the present $211 million scheme by the previous mayor Christine Fletcher.

Mr Banks, a Britomart critic who called it the "temple at the bottom of Queen St", will open it in the presence of Transport Minister Paul Swain and guest of honour Sir Edmund Hillary.

Queen Elizabeth Square and the 1912 post office have resembled a bomb site this week with plasterers, painters, glaziers and other tradesmen working frantically to meet the opening deadline.

Britomart project director Grant Kirby said yesterday that people would get a good idea of the finished product even though it would be another two months before the job was completed.

One of Mr Kirby's final challenges was getting the reconditioned clock on the front of the old Chief Post Office running. Another important detail was replacing the Downer Construction flag with the New Zealand flag at the top of the building.

The Chief Post Office will be partially open today but it will be a month before the interior is finished and a cafe, several kiosks and the ticketing counter are operating.

The giant glasshouse, at the rear of the Chief Post Office, will open and the streets around the station to Commerce St will open by August 3 when buses return to Britomart.

Mr Kirby said the fences around Queen Elizabeth Square would come down over the next two weeks.

The last area to be finished, by the end of September, will be the streets and public spaces east of Commerce St.

The opening

Today

1.40pm: Sir Edmund and Lady Hillary, in a horse-drawn carriage, lead the procession down Queen St from the town hall to the civic opening of Britomart.

2pm: The ceremony includes the unveiling of three plaques, speeches and the cutting of a cake.

Tomorrow

11am: Start of open day featuring street performers, musicians, Thomas the Tank Engine and vintage vehicles.

5pm: Open day ends with a laser show in front of the old Chief Post Office.