Deconstruction of buildings at former St George’s School in Whanganui to start in January

Palmerston North-based ARC Asbestos Removal and Demolition has been contracted for the work. Photo / Mike Tweed

Work to get rid of buildings at the former St George’s School site in Whanganui will begin next month.

Palmerston North-based ARC Asbestos Removal and Demolition is in charge of the project.

In a letter to residents near the Grey St site, the company said work would begin on January 21 and run to May 15, and site establishment had begun.

Work would be done from 7am-5.30pm on weekdays and, when required, 7am-3pm on Saturdays.

In July, Whanganui district councillors voted 9-4 to sign a long-term lease of the 125 Grey St property to health provider Te Oranganui, with the council paying to deconstruct the buildings.

Council chief strategy officer Sarah O’Hagan said the combined cost of the asbestos removal and deconstruction of the buildings, and interior and exterior heritage recordings, was $1.379 million.

Geometria Ltd had the contract for the heritage recordings, she said.

“There are around 770 tonnes of salvageable material and the minimum target is to salvage 90% of the material.”

O’Hagan said in the first instance, the material would be made available for use on site by Te Oranganui Trust and/or for building commemoration.

“The remainder will be made available to the public to purchase.

“We do know there are fixtures and fittings, a good amount of native and imported timber, bricks and metal.”

Geometria had given the council a list of items with historic significance and they would be handled with special care, she said.

Te Oranganui will turn the site into a health and wellness hub.

The first two stages of its project involve constructing new buildings on the school’s former cricket field on the Grey St side of the property.

Stage three, the creation of a wider community hub with allied health services, will be on the site where the school’s main buildings stand.

Whanganui District Council chief strategy officer Sarah O'Hagan. Photo / NZME

ARC’s letter to residents said its scope included removal of identified asbestos-containing materials, deconstruction and demolition of the building and associated elements, removal of internal materials and structural components, and ongoing environmental and safety monitoring.

There would be dust suppression, air monitoring during asbestos removal, and noise management, it said.

No road closures were required.

St George’s School was built in 1927 in the neo-Georgian style.

The school moved to the Whanganui Collegiate campus in 2011 after a decline in student numbers.

The buildings were bought from the YMCA by Whanganui District Holdings – the council’s financial arm – in 2019 to be used for training by the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy (NZICPA).

NZICPA used some of the buildings from the second half of 2019 until June 2021 before ownership of the site transferred from Holdings to the council.

In May, former council chief executive David Langford said the 20,000sq m property cost the council about $49,000 a year.

Leasing the site to Te Oranganui will generate council income of $158,820 a year.

Te Oranganui’s lease includes 21-year renewals in perpetuity.

Of the 821 respondents to the council’s public survey on the future of the property, 51% supported deconstructing the buildings and leasing the site to a private developer.

In June, the Whanganui Heritage Trust started a petition calling for the buildings to be saved.

O’Hagan said the trust “continues to play a role in this project”.

“They have met with Geometria Ltd and have a standing invitation to participate in regular project co-ordination group meetings.

“In the new year, workshops will reconvene to further develop how the heritage of the site may be recognised.”

She said once the asbestos had been removed and the site certified clean, an open day would be held.

“The target for this is March 2026.”

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.