The family of the man Wellington’s abandoned Gordon Wilson flats are named after want the building to be redeveloped, rather than demolished.
The 1950s-era apartment complex has sat unlived in on Wellington’s hills just below Victoria University since 2012 after they stopped being used for social housing because they were deemed to be too unsafe to live in.
They were so dangerous, signs on fences blocking access to it say: “There is a risk of the concrete falling from the building at any time.”
The Government has carved out a section of the law so the earthquake-prone abandoned heritage building can be demolished by its owner, Victoria University.
When the law changes were announced in June, senior Cabinet minister Chris Bishop posted a photo to social media which included his face photoshopped onto a man swinging on a wrecking ball with the buildings in the background.
Last week, the family of Francis Gordon Wilson travelled from the United States to Wellington to award recipients of the fellowship in his name at Parliament, which were Cynthia Yuan and Norman Wei.
Daughter Sara Wilson told RNZ they did not want to get involved in the city’s politics, but wondered whether the apartment buildings could have been restored earlier.
“What has been interesting to me is this question of large institutions taking an asset like this like a building and letting it rot.”
Another daughter, Marilyn Wilson-Mandell, said the building’s current state was unfortunate, and did not think it would not be a dishonour to her father’s name if it was knocked down.
“We are really looking at the future, and that’s what our father was always looking at.”
Wilson’s granddaughter Julia Mandell-Kerr said creating new buildings was contributing to climate change. Mandell-Kerr said it would be logical to have a reasonable, cost-effective plan to maintain the building’s concrete rather than destroying it.
The family supported a group called the Architectural Centre’s plan to redevelop the site, which claimed to be able to keep much of the building’s concrete structure.
It would contain 100 refurbished apartments that could be home to 350 people.
Architecture Centre spokesperson Peter Parkes told RNZ the apartment complex still had value.
“We believe that you have got 40% of a building there that could be refurbished and brought into life again to ease the housing crisis.”
Bishop said in a statement the future of the flats was up to Victoria University.
“I will observe that there have been many ideas for the site put forward over the years, none of which have proved to be economic and none of which have been backed by people putting their money where their mouth is.”
Bishop said it was a pleasure to meet Wilson’s family at the New Zealand Institute of Architects awards last week.
Victoria University told RNZ that it would like to develop student accommodation at the site.
The university was assessing all its options to make that happen, which included reusing the Gordon Wilson flats or building new.
If the flats were demolished that work would likely start in December or January, the university said.
rnz.co.nz
