AGM - 30th June

The TIMARU CIVIC TRUST is holding its AGM on Thursday 30th June at the Landing Service Building.  There will be refreshments at 6.30 pm; the AGM will be at 7.00 pm followed at 7.30 by a presentation from Glen Hazelton, the Team Leader of the Urban Design unit of the Dunedin City Council.  He will discuss heritage-led urban revitalization with particular reference to the Warehouse Precinct area of central Dunedin.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

Glen is the Heritage Planner for DCC and Glen’s Dunedin Heritage blog is worth a look to see some of the exciting developments under way down south.  Some background: the historic area between Queens Gardens and Police Street (the Warehouse Precinct) was once the hub of Dunedin’s commercial and industrial growth but this area declined in the second half of the twentieth century. Recently, business and residential investment in the area has increased, which has started to revitalise the area.
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There was an interesting article recently in Essence entitled ‘Breathing new life into our Central City’ which shared several different perspectives on repurposing buildings as opposed to just knocking them down and starting again.   We on the Civic Trust generally lean in the direction of the preservationists and love the idea of holding on to our heritage buildings which add so much to the character of our city.   Architect Ian Butcher makes the point "Previous generations took a great deal of pride in their architecture, often to the point where the names of the original owners were literally carved in the stone of the building.  It would be a real shame to lose that for the sake of expediency."

Karen Rolleston