Whanganui heritage Thain's building a huge loss, trustee says

Whanganui's Thain's building has been a cornerstone of Victoria Ave's Bridge Block. Photo / Alexander Turnbull Library

The impending demolition of the Thain's building at 1 Victoria Ave will be a sad loss to the city, Whanganui Regional Heritage Trust trustee Helen Craig says.

The devastating July 19 fire in the building has been a lose:lose situation - for owners, tenants and Whanganui residents. The gutted building must come down as soon as possible, because it is threatening businesses alongside.

Thain's has been an important building, Craig said, because it was a cornerstone of the riverside block of Victoria Ave and one of the first buildings visible from the main town bridge. It was at risk from earthquakes and floods, but with new owners embarking on renovations it could have continued to be important for Whanganui.

A notice to demolish it was issued on July 24. Whanganui District Council supports retaining heritage, Craig said, but the building was too fragile.

"No shoring up, even of the facade, was possible, as the mortar between the bricks has been too badly damaged and the risk of collapse is too high."

The building was within Whanganui's Old Town Heritage Overlay Zone, and ranked Class B in Whanganui's District Plan. When its former owner applied to demolish it many objected, and the application was declined.

Whanganui couple Bryce Smith and Sue Cooke then bought it, and started extensive renovations. The building was almost fully tenanted with start-ups, small businesses and artists when it burned.

It was designed by architect TH James and built by Nicholas Meuli in 1908. Its decorative parapet was removed in the 1930s, after the Napier earthquake.

James Thain and William Clapham bought the business that was later housed in it in 1888, the 1897 Cyclopedia of New Zealand says. Thain was from Scotland, and arrived in Whanganui in 1876.

He was a Justice of the Peace and also the captain and quartermaster of the Wellington Rifle Battalion.

Thain and Clapham were wholesale and retail iron and hardware merchants. They traded from Foxton to New Plymouth, and imported agricultural implements, American goods, paints, oils, arms, ammunition and general hardware.

Their wares included cement, sheep dips and coal ranges. The top floor of the Thain's building was used to store goods, which were moved up and down in a lift.

A recent visitor remembers it as a large room with a native timber floor that still smelled of lanolin from the wool stored there. A second building on the riverfront was also part of their business, used as a bulk store. It's now Whanganui's i-SITE.

The owners of the damaged building are hoping to scan the facade before it comes down, and keep an electronic 3D model. After demolition the empty section will become a green space, until they decide what to do.

There would be quite stringent design criteria for any new building there, Craig said.

"We all want a sympathetically designed new building, but it also has to be economically viable. It could take years for a new building to rise in its place."