 What fantastic weather there was for the public opening of Queens Wharf as a "Peoples' Wharf" by ARC Chairman Mike Lee and Minister of Rugby World Cup Murray McCully. |
 Despite little advertising the wharf was thronging with people. Where did they all come from? Hard to say. Just came down town after Anzac Day looking for something to do, and saw there was something up at Queens Wharf Party Central and headed on down. |
 Vintage vehicles, games, bouncy castles, take away food, the odd portaloo. Shade was hard to find though. In all that sun... |
 And the Ports had laid on their party special. Everyone came down to the end of the wharf to look... |
 Yep. Dancing tugboats. Something for everybody. |
 They came on their bikes, disability buggies, wheel chairs, skate boards, and they came in their hundreds taking photos and enjoying being somewhere they'd never been allowed before... |
 And they came to have a look inside those sheds. Both sheds were open to view. Pity nobody could look in the upper floor of Shed 10 - but it's not that safe at the moment... |
 Many people took the opportunity to have a good look around. See what they could see. Not everybody can see the potential. That's par for the course. It's only after some love, design and attention to detail that the sheds will be able to come into their own... |
 The temporary ceiling is there, now, with strip lighting - fairly institutional - for when Shed 10 is used as cruise ship terminal which happens at the moment when Princes Wharf has a cruise ship. |
SOS Queens Wharf Save Our Sheds |
Sign their petition at: http://www.sosqueenswharf.co.nz/ Go to Facebook, and check out their page: SOS Queens Wharf |
 The big attraction on the day was undoubtedly the Navy. Their ship attracted huge amounts of attention. Everybody wanted to be shown around. |
 It got tiring in the sun. There are quite a few old timbers around to sit on, and the sheds were great shelter from the sun. |
 These big timbers make great seats. And they all seem to be in the right place. |
 As I sailed back to Devonport in the ferry, it was great to look back and see people on the peoples' wharf. Walking around the sheds. Enjoying their newest Regional Park. It was a great step of ARC and Government to buy this wharf and everything upon it. |
We need to think hard before doing anything permanent that will detract from the promise and the potential of the "peoples' wharf".... |
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Queens Wharf Opens on Anzac Day
| What fantastic weather there was for the public opening of Queens Wharf as a "Peoples' Wharf" by ARC Chairman Mike Lee and Minister of Rugby World Cup Murray McCully. |
| Despite little advertising the wharf was thronging with people. Where did they all come from? Hard to say. Just came down town after Anzac Day looking for something to do, and saw there was something up at Queens Wharf Party Central and headed on down. |
| Vintage vehicles, games, bouncy castles, take away food, the odd portaloo. Shade was hard to find though. In all that sun... |
| And the Ports had laid on their party special. Everyone came down to the end of the wharf to look... |
| Yep. Dancing tugboats. Something for everybody. |
| They came on their bikes, disability buggies, wheel chairs, skate boards, and they came in their hundreds taking photos and enjoying being somewhere they'd never been allowed before... |
| And they came to have a look inside those sheds. Both sheds were open to view. Pity nobody could look in the upper floor of Shed 10 - but it's not that safe at the moment... |
| Many people took the opportunity to have a good look around. See what they could see. Not everybody can see the potential. That's par for the course. It's only after some love, design and attention to detail that the sheds will be able to come into their own... |
| The temporary ceiling is there, now, with strip lighting - fairly institutional - for when Shed 10 is used as cruise ship terminal which happens at the moment when Princes Wharf has a cruise ship. |
SOS Queens Wharf Save Our Sheds |
Sign their petition at: http://www.sosqueenswharf.co.nz/ Go to Facebook, and check out their page: SOS Queens Wharf |
| The big attraction on the day was undoubtedly the Navy. Their ship attracted huge amounts of attention. Everybody wanted to be shown around. |
| It got tiring in the sun. There are quite a few old timbers around to sit on, and the sheds were great shelter from the sun. |
| These big timbers make great seats. And they all seem to be in the right place. |
| As I sailed back to Devonport in the ferry, it was great to look back and see people on the peoples' wharf. Walking around the sheds. Enjoying their newest Regional Park. It was a great step of ARC and Government to buy this wharf and everything upon it. |
We need to think hard before doing anything permanent that will detract from the promise and the potential of the "peoples' wharf".... |
1 comment:
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Heritage?
Dear Mr. Cayford,
I usually agree with most of your views regarding urban issues and development in Auckland, but the whole sheds debacle is something that I don't agree on.
Just because Auckland bowled over most of its heritage buildings in the 80's, it doesnt mean we have to protect every little corrugated iron shed because somehow its 'heritgae' since it was built in 1910 whatever. The two sheds are ugly and have no architectural features whatsoever.
As quoted by someone else:
"It is folly to assume one can correct Aucklands past of heritage destruction, by holding onto two sheds just for the sake of appearing to be a guardian of heritage. Its too little to late and merely smacks of window dressing. They have little or nor architectural merit in their present setting, and although many old sheds have been incorporated into existing successful waterfronts all over the world (including Auckland's very own North Wharf), no one has been able to come up with some design that includes the sheds that has any WOW factor - that says "Yes we want that!". It is all very wishy washy, and people are taking a stance for stances sake and not with the sheds best interests at heart. Dismantle and use them elswhere, but Queens Wharf needs something new."
I agree. -
April 29, 2010 at 1:44 AM
1 comment:
Heritage?
Dear Mr. Cayford,
I usually agree with most of your views regarding urban issues and development in Auckland, but the whole sheds debacle is something that I don't agree on.
Just because Auckland bowled over most of its heritage buildings in the 80's, it doesnt mean we have to protect every little corrugated iron shed because somehow its 'heritgae' since it was built in 1910 whatever. The two sheds are ugly and have no architectural features whatsoever.
As quoted by someone else:
"It is folly to assume one can correct Aucklands past of heritage destruction, by holding onto two sheds just for the sake of appearing to be a guardian of heritage. Its too little to late and merely smacks of window dressing. They have little or nor architectural merit in their present setting, and although many old sheds have been incorporated into existing successful waterfronts all over the world (including Auckland's very own North Wharf), no one has been able to come up with some design that includes the sheds that has any WOW factor - that says "Yes we want that!". It is all very wishy washy, and people are taking a stance for stances sake and not with the sheds best interests at heart. Dismantle and use them elswhere, but Queens Wharf needs something new."
I agree.
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