Upgrade project at Whanganui’s Durie Hill elevator begins in earnest

Bruce Dickson says access to the elevator (right) is "very crude and very limited". Photo / Bevan Conley

Plans are afoot to upgrade the top entry of the Durie Hill Elevator, following on from refurbishments at the elevator’s bottom stop on Anzac Parade.

Whanganui Regional Heritage Trust member Bruce Dickson said the first step of upgrades - at Anzac Pde - had involved the trust designing a new entry and completing all the details required for consent.

The design was then handed on to the council, which managed the construction of the project.

He said the council provided some funding ($50,000), with the trust raising the majority through grants and its own resources.

“What we are asking for now is the exact same arrangement we had before,” Dickson said.

“We arrive at a design brief, prepare the designs, and put them back to the council and the community.”

The goal was to provide comfort and ease of access to the lift, which was “a remarkable installation”.

“At the moment it is very crude and very limited, and [is] not providing the local experience or visitor experience we think the whole installation deserves.”

Dickson told a Whanganui District Council aspirations and projects committee the trust wanted the project included in the council’s Long Term Plan.

He said he understood the council had allocated $80,000 to the Durie Hill lookout (replacement of its retaining wall), with a further $100,000 grant available for work on Durie Hill.

“There is also money allocated to the reconstruction of the Duncan fence, which we regard as really important.

“It’s a great tragedy that fence has been allowed to get to the state it is [in], and we would like to see it renewed.”

All three features - the fence, the lookout and the elevator tower - needed to be looked at together, Dickson said.

“Our proposal is that we undertake the role of investigating all of that.”

He said the trust intended to go back to funders that had supported it before, such as the Four Regions Trust and Lottery.

“We have no idea what it’s going to cost because we don’t know what the design is going to be.

“We know what we want to achieve - a really suitable and safe entrance. At the present time, it’s not even safe, and I don’t think it complies with disabled persons access.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and 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 the Whanganui District Council.