https://wellington.gen.nz/localhistory+blogs Items tagged with Local History and Blogs. https://eyeofthefish.org/gordon-goneburger/ It is deeply sad and rather ironic that the day that the submissions for the Gordon Wilson Housing Scholarship close wth NZIA, the Minister of... gordon-wilson heritagebuildings localhistory architecture blogs Tue, 17 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/gordon-goneburger/ Eye of the Fish 2025-06-17T00:00:00Z -41.29099615 174.77030768862403 Gordon Wilson Flats, Maurice Terrace, Aro Valley, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand https://eyeofthefish.org/albemarle-rises-again/ It has been a long time coming, and at times I doubted that it would ever happen, but the scaffolding is down at last and... heritagebuildings localhistory architecture blogs Tue, 20 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/albemarle-rises-again/ Eye of the Fish 2025-05-20T00:00:00Z -41.2932469 174.77527484161675 Albemarle Building, Ghuznee Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand https://eyeofthefish.org/last-ditch-bid-to-save-fantastic-modernist-building/ A group fighting to keep the Gordon Wilson Flats from being demolished, despite the building having sat empty for years, has come up with a... heritagebuildings localhistory architecture blogs Fri, 19 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/last-ditch-bid-to-save-fantastic-modernist-building/ Eye of the Fish 2024-04-19T00:00:00Z -41.29099615 174.77030768862403 Gordon Wilson Flats, Maurice Terrace, Aro Valley, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand https://eyeofthefish.org/is-a-prime-minster-entitled-to-a-nice-house/ There’s been a lot about this house in the news recently – both the paper kind of news, and the TV kind of news. May as well get my news from proper news sources while they exist, seeing as it sounds like soon nothing is going to exist in the news world. What will we do when 3News and OneNews are ditched, and Stuff has gone bust again? Its hard enough to even buy a paper these days, as increasingly nowhere sells them. What do we do in the future – just make up our own news as we go? Seems to be working fine for some people! Anyway, THIS is the house in question: heritagebuildings thorndon localhistory places architecture blogs Wed, 06 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/is-a-prime-minster-entitled-to-a-nice-house/ Eye of the Fish 2024-03-06T00:00:00Z -41.27675835 174.7707239275545 Premier House, 260, Tinakori Road, Paekākā, Thorndon, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand https://eyeofthefish.org/toomaths-building/ Farewell to the Toomath’s Buildings then. Designed by architect William Crichton, completed by 1901. Survived years of neglect – did not survive a group of... toomaths-building heritagebuildings localhistory architecture blogs Thu, 09 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/toomaths-building/ Eye of the Fish 2023-11-09T00:00:00Z -41.293532549999995 174.7760526425933 Toomath’s Buildings, Ghuznee Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2023/10/24/leslie-adkins-excursion-to-kapiti-island/ Leslie Adkin (1888–1964) was a farmer by profession, based in Levin. localhistory museumsandgalleries art blogs te-papa Mon, 23 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2023/10/24/leslie-adkins-excursion-to-kapiti-island/ Te Papa's blog 2023-10-23T00:00:00Z -40.8550388 174.91513390786122 Kapiti Island, Kāpiti Coast District, Wellington, New Zealand https://talkwellington.org.nz/2023/do-we-really-need-to-heritage-list-any-more-of-central-wellington/ Heritage NZ are currently consulting on Category 1-listing the Hannah Playhouse. Some bigwigs support it but guest poster Peter encourages us to oppose it in the consultation – open til 3 March Much criticism of heritage listing modern buildings, particularly those of this architectural style, Brutalism, is rooted in architectural snobbery. This post is not about... consultation heritagebuildings localhistory blogs Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://talkwellington.org.nz/2023/do-we-really-need-to-heritage-list-any-more-of-central-wellington/ Talk Wellington 2023-02-22T00:00:00Z -41.2937331 174.78360199960022 Hannah Playhouse, 12, Cambridge Terrace, Mount Victoria, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand https://eyeofthefish.org/dixon-street-flats/ But the big news this week has to be the somewhat silly news that the Dixon Street flats are being emptied out and there is not a clear story of what happens to the building next. This is not a sob storey like the Gordon Wilson Flats just around the corner – well, at least, it hasn’t started off the same. earthquake-strengthening heritagebuildings localhistory architecture blogs Tue, 06 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/dixon-street-flats/ Eye of the Fish 2022-12-06T00:00:00Z -41.2901576 174.77307353759144 Dixon Street Flats, 134, Dixon Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2022/05/20/have-a-gay-day-the-60th-anniversary-of-wellingtons-dorian-society/ Sixty years ago, on 27 May 1962, a group of sixteen men met at a house on The Terrace in central Wellington to discuss forming what would become New Zealand’s first documented homosexual organisation – the Dorian Society. Gareth Watkins shares more of the story of some of the peopleRead more gaybisexual localhistory museumsandgalleries art blogs te-papa Thu, 19 May 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2022/05/20/have-a-gay-day-the-60th-anniversary-of-wellingtons-dorian-society/ Te Papa's blog 2022-05-19T00:00:00Z https://eyeofthefish.org/adelaide-hotel/ It’s seldom that projects get publicly notified these days – the developers usually have it their own way with everything being done behind closed doors. You have to do something seriously different to raise the ire of the Planning Department enough that they feel they have no option but to make it known to the public. The Adelaide Hotel is one such scheme. consultation heritagebuildings localhistory architecture blogs Thu, 09 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/adelaide-hotel/ Eye of the Fish 2021-09-09T00:00:00Z -41.305220199999994 174.7783271112226 Adelaide Hotel (former), Drummond Street, Newtown, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6021, New Zealand https://eyeofthefish.org/hainings-historic-heritage/ It may not seem much like it now, but the Haining St / Frederick St area is brimming full of remnants of an interesting characterful heritage past. heritagebuildings localhistory architecture blogs Sun, 15 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/hainings-historic-heritage/ Eye of the Fish 2021-08-15T00:00:00Z -41.2967282 174.7776844 Haining Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand https://eyeofthefish.org/station-to-station/ Wellington’s main (only?) central Railway Station has been getting a lot of press recently, mostly over the intransigence of the Heritage NZ lobby who are, to be honest, being silly over the heritage of this building. They’ve only just today approved the installation of a pedestrian ramp out the front doors – the disabled have been forced to use the side door for the last several decades. They’re sitting on the approval of installation of the Snapper ticketing terminals because they don’t like the colour. KiwiRail: do it anyway. It needs to be a living piece of heritage, adapting and changing to the times – not preserved in aspic (whatever aspic is). heritagebuildings trains localhistory transport architecture blogs Fri, 23 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/station-to-station/ Eye of the Fish 2021-07-23T00:00:00Z https://eyeofthefish.org/st-gerard/ Monasteries have always been freeloaders on society – for the last 2000 years or more. heritagebuildings mountvictoria localhistory places architecture blogs Mon, 05 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/st-gerard/ Eye of the Fish 2021-04-05T00:00:00Z -41.2970453 174.7874066 Mt. Victoria, Wellington, New Zealand https://eyeofthefish.org/listing-buildings/ Not sure if you realise this yet, but the proverbial cat has just been thrown amongst the proverbial pigeons. Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (what used to be called the Historic Places Trust) has just announced three new grade 1 heritage listings in Wellington: Trades Hall, Wellington Central Library, and a combined Gordon Wilson and McLean flats as well. central-library heritagebuildings libraries localhistory architecture blogs Thu, 25 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://eyeofthefish.org/listing-buildings/ Eye of the Fish 2021-02-25T00:00:00Z -41.288190150000005 174.77673076998568 Wellington Central Library, Civic Square, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand http://eyeofthefish.org/dunajtschik-demolition-a-done-deal/ News just in via the Stuff website that Mark Dunajtschik has won his appeal in the High Court against the Environment Court. But it does not mean that Mr D has the right to go out and demolish the building straight away – instead, a rehearing has been ordered. This legal stuff is exhausting, and expensive. With the amount that Mr D has spent on the legal costs so far, you might think that he could quite easily have just strengthened the building instead. harcourts-building heritagebuildings earthquake-strengthening localhistory architecture blogs Fri, 02 May 2014 00:00:00 GMT http://eyeofthefish.org/dunajtschik-demolition-a-done-deal/ Eye of the Fish 2014-05-02T00:00:00Z -41.2845319 174.7756861 Grey Street, Wellington Central, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand/Aotearoa http://eyeofthefish.org/halfway-house/ I’m quite interested in New Zealand’s old architecture, particularly those old colonial buildings that we haven’t preserved much of, but can still be found. So I went to Glenside, near Tawa to see an old colonial house. Apparently the suburb of Glenside used to be called ‘Halfway’ back in the day because it was located [...] tawa heritagebuildings places localhistory architecture blogs Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://eyeofthefish.org/halfway-house/ Eye of the Fish 2013-05-29T00:00:00Z -41.1975334 174.8220788 Middleton Road, Grenada Village, Glenside, Wellington, 6037, New Zealand/Aotearoa http://eyeofthefish.org/more-dunajtschik/ Regarding the old Temperance and General Building on Lambton Quay – known to next to no-one as the Harcourts building. Submissions on it’s proposed demolition are due in a week – by the end of the month. It is a crunch point for Wellingtonians – should a building owner be allowed to demolish their building [...] heritagebuildings consultation harcourts-building localhistory earthquake-strengthening architecture blogs Mon, 22 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://eyeofthefish.org/more-dunajtschik/ Eye of the Fish 2012-10-22T00:00:00Z -41.28452427913499 174.775661171894 Grey Street, Wellington Central, Wellington, Wellington Region, 6012, New Zealand http://eyeofthefish.org/dunajtschik-demolition/ So the time has come at last: the first of a presumed wave of proposals to demolish perfectly good buildings in Wellington. Christchurch has had to put up with a swathe of demolition over the last couple of years, and they are getting so good at destroying everything down there, that they have forgotten that it is not compulsory. Cranmer Courts is their city’s latest disgrace – the Harcourts building is ours. heritagebuildings harcourts-building earthquake-strengthening localhistory architecture blogs Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://eyeofthefish.org/dunajtschik-demolition/ Eye of the Fish 2012-10-02T00:00:00Z -41.28452427913499 174.775661171894 Grey Street, Wellington Central, Wellington, Wellington Region, 6011, New Zealand http://eyeofthefish.org/national-war-memorial-earthquake-prone-demolition/ In some pretty shocking news that has just been leaked out of the new super-ministry this morning, the National War Memorial in Buckle St has been declared to be an earthquake prone building. The building, completed in 1932, has a concrete frame, but the weight of the heavy bronze bells in the Carillon is thought [...] heritagebuildings mountcook earthquake-strengthening localhistory places architecture blogs Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://eyeofthefish.org/national-war-memorial-earthquake-prone-demolition/ Eye of the Fish 2012-03-31T00:00:00Z -41.2989735 174.7771177 41 Buckle Street http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2011/12/15/carmen-ahead-of-her-time/ Carmen Rupe (1936-2011), a New Zealand transgendered entrepreneur, entertainer, and role model, passed away in Sydney this morning. localhistory gaybisexual museumsandgalleries art blogs te-papa Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2011/12/15/carmen-ahead-of-her-time/ Te Papa's blog 2011-12-15T00:00:00Z http://eyeofthefish.org/cuba-cuticle/ Recently, while we were talking about the curious case of the Demolition Order placed on the little green Dry Cleaners in Cuba St, I took a visit up to Cuba (St) to take a photo and found something rather odd. wellywood cubastreet heritagebuildings miramar places localhistory architecture blogs Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://eyeofthefish.org/cuba-cuticle/ Eye of the Fish 2011-11-21T00:00:00Z -41.2937917 174.7754336 Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand http://eyeofthefish.org/whither-cuba/ Gosh – that was a surprise! Our venerated local broadsheet, el Domino Postale, appears to have gone and written an excellent, thoughtful article on what we need to do with Cuba St. Have they got a new reporter perhaps, one who is actually interested in matters more important than cute doggies or cats stuck up trees? There is hope, at least – keep an eye out on Nikki McDonald. The article raises some serious points, which I think that we have also raised before – what to do with a street whose charm lies in it’s eclectic collection of semi derelict buildings? heritagebuildings cubastreet localhistory places architecture blogs Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://eyeofthefish.org/whither-cuba/ Eye of the Fish 2011-10-24T00:00:00Z -41.2937917 174.7754336 Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand http://eyeofthefish.org/heritage-questions/ If you’ve been trying to get hold of your Structural Engineer this week in Wellington, you’ll probably have noticed they’re not returning calls. heritagebuildings earthquake-strengthening localhistory architecture blogs Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://eyeofthefish.org/heritage-questions/ Eye of the Fish 2010-09-07T00:00:00Z http://wellingtonista.com/and-you-thought-we-were-joking-about-the-octopus-threat Earlier this month we read about an octopus off the South Coast that mugged an innocent diver and took his valuable new camera. The news flashed around the world and everyone had a bit of a chuckle at the diver's expense. Not so fast, laughing boys (and girls). It turns out that this is but the latest episode in a long history of criminal behaviour by the city's cephalopod citizenry. cephalopods localhistory animals blogs featured Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://wellingtonista.com/and-you-thought-we-were-joking-about-the-octopus-threat The Wellingtonista 2010-04-25T00:00:00Z http://wellingtonista.com/a-teatowel-coffee-guide-to-wellington NZ History have recently added an amazing tea towel, thought to be from the mid-1960s, listing the coffee houses of Wellington. localhistory coffee cafe restaurantsbars blogs featured Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://wellingtonista.com/a-teatowel-coffee-guide-to-wellington The Wellingtonista 2010-01-24T00:00:00Z http://wellingtonista.com/a-bit-of-love-for-an-old-organ The Wellington Town Hall is rated amongst the top ten in the world for acoustics, and this was a significant argument in the 1970s and 80s when the demolition of the Town Hall became a possibility. heritagebuildings music localhistory performingarts blogs featured Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wellingtonista.com/a-bit-of-love-for-an-old-organ The Wellingtonista 2009-07-03T00:00:00Z http://wellingtonista.com/wellington-reclamation-animation From the 'Reclamation of Wellington Harbour' Wikipedia article, here's an animation by Matt Lane that shows the various stages of the city's expansion seawards over the last century and a half. localhistory waterfront places blogs featured Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://wellingtonista.com/wellington-reclamation-animation The Wellingtonista 2009-04-07T00:00:00Z http://eyeofthefish.org/grand-designs/ Watching an episode of Grand Designs recently, while on holiday, made me thankful that we don’t have such a high and idiotic level of bureaucracy as they do in England: but then again, nor do we have an architectural presenter with the charisma and sardonic tongue of Kevin McCloud.  In this programme, an architect called Francis Shaw was attempting to restore a castle in Skipton, in Yorkshire. Hi heritagebuildings localhistory architecture blogs Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://eyeofthefish.org/grand-designs/ Eye of the Fish 2009-01-14T00:00:00Z http://wellingtonista.com/the-old-shebang The National Library has joined the Flickr Commons project, whacking up many of their photos on Flickr. At the moment, there's not much from Wellington, but we're hoping that will change as more are uploaded. One particular Wellington delight, however, is a set of photos of a ramshackle house on Cuba Street called the Old Shebang (shebang in this instance means dwelling). And as well as that, Goo cubastreet localhistory places blogs featured Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wellingtonista.com/the-old-shebang The Wellingtonista 2008-11-30T00:00:00Z -41.2937917 174.7754336 Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand http://wellingtonista.com/holy-smoke The historic St Peters church, on the corner of Willis & Ghuznee St, is currently on fire. There are seven fire appliances and one ambulance attending the fire, and just now they seem to have stopped the smoke belching out of the doors and windows. More updates & photos as they come to hand... read more emergencyservices heritagebuildings religiousgroups localhistory communitygroups blogs featured Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://wellingtonista.com/holy-smoke The Wellingtonista 2008-04-14T00:00:00Z