Heritage et AL

Ref: John Daley, Lorne Street, 1974, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 7-A13628. THIS TOTARA TREE WAS PLANTED BY THE AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL TO HONOUR THE MEMORY OF RONALD ALLISON KELLS MASON POET AND NATIVE SON OF THIS CITY 1905 - 1971 I knew that the tōtara planted hard against the library edge was planted for R. A. K. Mason but the plaque has weathered in this exposed comer of Rutland and Lorne Streets. When I saw the photograph by John Daley of the new building the decision to plant a memorial here made sense. This is a resonant corner with a new modern library and a wow factor. I researched the back story in the library's own New Zealand Card Index, now digitised for convenient access. The two articles indexed from the New Zealand Herald give a sense of the difficult road to achieving Mason's memorial which the simple plaque text gives no indication of. They are also an insight into the value of this remarkable index.

In 1950s Auckland, a group of concerned citizens decided a periodical to keep tabs on the city leadership was needed. Thus was born Comment , published by Hobson Publications. The editorial board included managing editor Charles Fisher but besides Comment  itself, the only other publication from the company appears to be a Hamilton yearbook published in 1955. Ref: Auckland City Council, Looking from the roof of a building in..., 1956-57, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 580-2272.

Many are surprised to learn that modern architecture can be ‘heritage’ too! It is important to preserve a range of building types and styles to hand on to future generations – not just the obviously old and pretty. The Pioneer Women’s and Ellen Melville Memorial Hall in Freyberg Square in Auckland’s CBD was completed in 1962 and designed by Tibor Donner (1907-1993). Donner was the Chief Architect of Auckland City Council from 1946-67 and designed many well-known public buildings , including our Civic Administration Building and Parnell Baths. Ref: 580-5695, Construction of the hall in 1961, Sir George Grey Special Collections