Whanganui District Council votes to deconstruct heritage buildings at former St George’s School site

Refurbishing and earthquake-strengthening the buildings would have cost about $12 million, according to estimates. Photo / Mike Tweed

Buildings at the former St George’s School site in Whanganui will soon be gone, following a vote by district councillors.

A long-term lease of the property at 125 Grey St is going to health provider Te Oranganui, with the Whanganui District Council paying for the buildings to be deconstructed.

That is estimated to cost $1.255 million. Funding will come from the council’s property endowment fund, not from ratepayers.

At a meeting on Tuesday, July 15, Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe and councillors Josh Chandulal-Mackay, Ross Fallen, Glenda Brown, Peter Oskam, Charlotte Melser, Jenny Duncan, Kate Joblin and Philippa Baker-Hogan voted in favour of the plan, which council officers recommended.

Deputy Mayor Helen Craig and councillors Charlie Anderson, Michael Law and Rob Vinsen voted against it.

Te Oranganui plans to build a wellness hub on the site.

Chief executive Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata told the Chronicle she was relieved by the council’s decision.

“We’ve had to move a couple of times, but we are hoping this will be our permanent home,” she said.

The organisation had committed to having discussions with the Whanganui Heritage Trust, council members and community members “to ensure, where possible, we’re acknowledging their thoughts”.

“Once the deconstruction goes ahead, we might find that is going on simultaneously with the ongoing work we need to do on the site,” Walsh-Tapiata said.

“We’ve done a lot of testing on the sports ground, but there is still a lot required because we don’t know the nature of the soil underneath the buildings.”

She said she did not know when the buildings would be deconstructed, but Te Oranganui’s goal was to move in by the end of 2027.

Council chief strategy officer Sarah O’Hagan said the lease conditions were close to being finalised, with a draft expected in the next few days.

“Council will go through the process of identifying the appropriate contractor to work through the deconstruction,” she said.

Walsh-Tapiata said a lot of work was required to make sure the community was reflected in whatever was built on the site.

“There are various heritage narratives that we will need to consider.”

St George’s School has been based on the Whanganui Collegiate campus since 2011, after a decline in student numbers.

During the meeting, Craig, who also co-chairs the heritage trust, delivered a passionate speech against the buildings’ deconstruction.

The school’s original buildings were constructed in 1927, with a western chapel wing following in 1957.

Additional classrooms were built in 1970 and 1994.

An administration building and amphitheatre were built between 2002 and 2003.

Deputy Mayor Helen Craig says the council's reputation in heritage "is smashed by this process". Photo / NZME

Craig said Te Oranganui did fantastic work – “I wish them all the best” – but the council’s process had been flawed.

“We buy an asset with a major heritage building on it, and without going through due process, it’s brought to the table – ‘We’ve got resource consent to demolish’.

“For goodness’ sake. I’ve totally lost faith that we have any standards that we are going to go by.”

The council secured consent to demolish in March.

Craig said the property had not been marketed in Whanganui, regionally or nationwide.

“The most important report missing is an adaptive reuse report, providing professional assessment of practical solutions for adaptation of the buildings to other uses.

“This would have given the best chance for the heritage buildings and site to have another productive life.

“Whanganui District Council’s reputation in heritage is smashed by this process.”

The buildings at Grey St were bought from the YMCA by Whanganui District Holdings – the council’s commercial arm – in 2019, with the NZ International Commercial Pilot Academy using some of them from the second half of 2019 until June 2021.

Ownership of the site transferred to the council in early 2023.

The council said deconstructing the buildings and leasing the site long-term would have a net benefit of $109,000 a year.

Councillor Glenda Brown says leasing the site to Te Oranganui "is not just a financially responsible solution, it’s a socially valuable one". Photo / NZME

Councillor Glenda Brown said there was a strong and ongoing commitment from the council to protect the city’s heritage.

“However, we must be honest about the fact not every structure can or should be saved,” she said.

“We will grow Whanganui by investing in our district and people, providing local economic opportunities and raising our quality of life.

“This [plan] is not just a financially responsible solution, it’s a socially valuable one.”

There were 821 responses to a council-run public survey on the future of the site, with 51% supporting deconstructing the buildings and leasing the site to a private developer.

Retaining and refurbishing the buildings, which would have an estimated price tag of $12 million, was supported by 22%.

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 the Whanganui District Council.