Hamilton Gardens glasshouses to be demolished, site turned into outdoor space

The iconic Hamilton Gardens glasshouses are going to be removed. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

The iconic Hamilton Gardens glasshouses are going to be removed in May.

The glasshouses, located in the Victorian Flower Garden near Cobham Drive, will make way for a new open space, that will feature the glasshouses’ black and white tiled flooring and entry archway.

Hamilton Gardens director Lucy Ryan said the glasshouses had been closed since 2020.

“Compared to a small number of visitors, the glasshouses were expensive to run ... It’s now time to remove them and return this area to a usable space for our community.”

Glasshouses have been located at the Cobham Drive site since the 1960s, however, the current ones are not heritage buildings.

“Glasshouses were [first] brought over from Memorial Park in the 1960s, but they have since been demolished,” said Ryan.

“In the current glasshouses, we’ve replaced several components of them at least once since they were installed.”

The tiled flooring and entry archway were being kept, and it would not be the end of glasshouses at the visitor attraction.

The archway of the Hamilton Gardens glasshouses is going to remain at the site. Photo / Hamilton City Council

The Pasifika Garden, currently under development, would be enclosed by a tall glasshouse, and showcase productive plants from the South Pacific.

The removal of the glasshouses has been budgeted in the Hamilton City Council’s 2021-2031 Long-term Plan, and was expected to take about one month.

Over winter and spring, the Hamilton Gardens team would add more plantings and grassed areas to complete the space.

Five notable trees in the surrounding area would be protected during the removal project.

The work will have no impact on visitors to Hamilton Gardens, or users of Cobham Drive.