Editorial: High time Blake was honoured

Opinion

Put it down to balmy days enjoying the waters of the Hauraki Gulf at the height of summer. In such idyllic circumstances, some people's thoughts have turned to Auckland's favourite sailing son, Sir Peter Blake. More particularly, if letters to the editor are an indication, they have focused, with some bewilderment and not a little annoyance, on the fact that more than four years after his murder on the Amazon, this city has yet to acknowledge his deeds with a suitable memorial.

This sad state of affairs merits a logical response. Unfortunately, there is none. Plans for a Blake memorial might be said to be in limbo, except that this period of irresolution has lasted several years. Those responsible for the project have, in fact, done, and are doing, little to suggest they view it as a priority.

The last firm sighting of a plan was as far back as 2003. That involved the encasing of Black Magic, the America's Cup-winning yacht gifted to Te Papa by Sir Peter, in a glass building on Princes Wharf, adjacent to the Maritime Museum. The national museum was to raise $5.5 million towards the cost of the memorial, while the Auckland City Council committed $2 million and the Government $2.5 million.

Lady Pippa Blake backed the project, but Aucklanders were somewhat unenthused by the design. Te Papa, for its part, was chastened by the cost, and the difficulty of raising sponsorship money. It announced a review aimed at trimming expenditure. To all intents and purposes, nothing more has been heard from it.

Te Papa's retreat need not have killed off a suitable memorial, however. Later in 2003, Auckland City bought the Team New Zealand base at the Viaduct Harbour. The building, the epicentre of this country's America's Cup adventure, seemed the perfect place for a memorial to Sir Peter. A museum named after him and commemorating both his feats and his country's involvement in the event could be anchored there. It was also the ideal spot to showcase Black Magic. The boat needs to be housed indoors because of its fragility; its display at the base would entail little of the upkeep and cost involved with a glass case.

Yet nothing has eventuated there, either. The city council of the time talked vaguely about turning Team New Zealand's headquarters and others on syndicate row into a marine events centre, which would host the likes of on-water concerts and boat shows. It has not happened. But nor has the present council seized the opportunity to turn the base into a memorial.

One objection to this idea was the distance between the base and the Maritime Museum, which was intended to reap the benefit of the ship-in-a-bottle memorial. But the distance is, in fact, little more than a stone's throw, hardly an unmanageable gulf, particularly if both sites were to play a complementary role.

If progress is finally to be made, the city council must take the reins by creating a partnership with Te Papa and the Maritime Museum that would see the two locations involved in the project. A full range of static displays and interactive exhibits of the sort favoured by Te Papa could be accommodated - and all in a scenario that makes financial sense.

Matters have drifted long enough. Such were the magnitude of Sir Peter's exploits in both the yachting and environmental spheres that he is not about to fade from the popular consciousness. The ongoing public interest in a memorial confirms as much. That memorial should be in place now. The longer the delay the more the memory of a great New Zealander is ill-served.