"I explained the importance of this work and the information was passed back to the owner who was to inform us of any start dates and decisions on the work," Chris says.
On March 4, 2015 he received a call from someone saying bulldozers were at the site of the carpark, preparing for demolition.
"So I went running down there and asked what was happening to these panels. They told me they had put a $4000 contingency in place to take the panels to a storage area. However, the owner took that out and they were heading to the landfill with the other parts of the carpark."
Chris, knowing the historical value of the panels, offered to pay the $4000 himself to save them.
The owner accepted the offer and as the artwork was considered a community asset, the Taupō District Council ended up footing the bill. The panels were stored at the council depot until funds could be assigned in the Long-Term Plan for their preservation.
In 2015, Chris and councillor John Ridd visited the artist Barry who reiterated his wish for the panels to be installed together rather than separated as they were at the carpark.
Barry died later that year but Chris and the council have made sure his wish will be fulfilled with the panels set to be installed at the new Taupō Airport terminal being built.
"In June 2020, I visited Liz Yuda from Artefacts Conservation Ltd who had been tasked with removing the 54 terracotta tiles from the heavy concrete slab they had been glued to," Chris says.
"They will need some restoration work but Liz is confident that they can be restored to point where they can be displayed back in the community.
"Forty-eight of the panels are with Liz who is now onto stage 3 of the conservation, which is sorting the mounting mechanism to be able to rehang the murals.
"The other six panels are sitting at Driving Creek railway to be re-made using the same clay Barry used to make the originals. These panels were beyond restoration."
An upgrade to the Taupō Airport's terminal building and carpark was included in Taupō District Council's 2018-28 Long-term Plan.
This upgrade is now under way with a budget of $9.237 million, funded with $3.367 million allocated in the Long-term Plan, a $5 million grant from the Crown's Provincial Development Unit, and $870,000 from the Ministry of Transport.
The architects design has included an inside wall, engineered to hold the significant weight of the artwork panels as part of the internal art installations.
Barry's wish that they are positioned together will be honoured along with the preservation of this work.
"Six years later, we have managed to get them saved, restored and allocated to a feature wall at the airport," Chris says.
"When we spoke to Barry [in 2015], he was amazed at the thought this artwork could have been lost. He was incredibly appreciative of them being saved. They are a major part of his portfolio and an incredible part of New Zealand's art history."
The airport upgrade is expected to be completed late in 2022.
In November, construction was well under way, with the foundation poured and framing going up. The new terminal will be approximately twice the size of the existing building.
Airport operations manager Kim Gard said, at the time, it was exciting to see the foundation in place and the project becoming a reality.
"A lot of people have worked really hard to get this project over the line and the new terminal is going to be a fantastic addition to the wider district and a real asset to locals and visitors alike," she said.
"In addition to the new terminal we will have a sealed carpark with more than 120 spaces, offering safer and efficient traffic flow for users, and a terminal that is more functional as well as being a fitting introduction to the district.
"Despite the disruptions caused by Covid-19 including delays to the supply chain, we are still on track to see the project completed in late 2022 – so watch this space, exciting things are coming."
