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From issue: August 2001

Securing a School's Future

by Penelope Frost

The future of an "elaborate and glorious" building, Onehunga's former school, is being debated in Auckland.

The then "new" Onehunga School, built to replace an 1883 building which had burned down, on its opening day in November 1901. Photo:Special Collections, Auckland Public Library.

The Onehunga School has occupied a commanding position on a hill overlooking Auckland's Manukau Harbour since 1901, but debate is stirring over the future of the building. Designed by architects Mitchell & Watt, this substantial weatherboard building was built from heart kauri at a cost of 3,500 pounds.

A fine example of Italianate Queen Anne architecture, it is now a sadly neglected shadow of its former glory. The bell turret has disappeared, the exterior paintwork is faded and peeling, and the appearance of the structure has been spoilt by unsympathetic additions. Inside the building is virtually original, with vertical tongue and grove lining on the walls and soaring ceilings in rooms that once held classes of sixty pupils. Sunlight still pours through large windows, but only highlights chipped paint, rotting window frames and worn carpet.

Though run-down, the Onehunga School is still a building with fine architectural detail. Photo:Penelope Frost

Conservation architect Graeme Burgess notes that the Onehunga School is structurally sound, and that its run-down appearance is mainly a cosmetic problem. He says that the Bayfield School in Auckland's Herne Bay and the Onehunga School are the most "elaborate and glorious" of all the education buildings constructed from 1872 onwards in an area from that stretched from Taupo to Northland.

The building is at present leased by the Auckland City Council for use as a Community Centre. These community facilites will soon move to new premises, leaving the building empty and its future uncertain. It is owned by the Ministry of Education, whose Property Manager Carl Hutton confirms that the building will be sold as it is surplus to requirements. He says "It has been offered to Council who have first right of refusal; if they are not interested then there needs to be iwi consultation under the Treaty of Waitangi Act, and then it can be offered for sale on the open market".

The Bayfield School has been restored for use as a pre-school centre. Photo:Penelope Frost.

The Auckland City Council would like to retain the use of the building but is not in a position to purchase it, and is seeking further details from the Ministry. Apart from flagship buildings such as the Town Hall and the Civic Theatre the Council does not generally buy heritage buildings, though it did respond to community pressure and purchase the Ponsonby School for community use. The Council does provide advice, site visits and resource consents free of charge on listed heritage buildings.

Community House Manager Joanna Keane is concerned that if the building is sold on the open market it will be lost to the community. She believes that locals can repair and maintain the building, and points out that in 1980 they rallied to save the building from demolition, and received an ASB grant to fix the roof. She is passionate about the building. "It is shabby, but that's all part of its character. If we could get secure tenure then we could apply for grants for necessary repairs." A community group with a heritage building has a very good chance of getting such grants.

But is such community use the only way to preserve heritage buildings? Developer David Parker believes not, and that such structures need to be commercially viable to surive. In the past Parker Brothers have developed the Victoria Park Market and other heritage properties in Auckland, including the Bayfield School. To develop the Bayfield property three sections at the back of the building were subdivided off, and a separate school building sold for use as a medical centre. Parker Brothers retained the main structure which had been identified as a potential pre-school and which is now leased as an Early Childhood Centre. Bayfield School now sports a fresh blue and white colour scheme, and has been successfully adapted to its new life as a busy pre-school. Licensee owner Carol Crichton designed a new interior layout, but structural changes were made in reasonable sympathy with the original structure. On the afternoon I visited, the big old schoolrooms were dark because it was sleeptime. Relaxing music was playing in the background. The soft beige walls, polished floorboards and carpet underfoot create a relaxed and homely atmosphere.

So what is the future for the Onehunga School? Will it stay in community use, or be sold to a private developer? If so, what could be done with it? The zoning allows the building to be used for education, a medical centre, as a training institution, or as studio space. It could be returned to the adjacent Primary School which desperately needs administration and library space. Any alterations planned would have to be cleared with the Historic Places Trust as an "affected party" under the Resource Management Act.

As the 100th anniversary of the building approaches in November this year, one wonders will there be much to celebrate? While the parties concerned continue to debate the issues, this valuable heritage building continues to deteriorate. Its value lies not just in its individual architectural merit, but in its place as one of many school buildings of its type around the North Island. These buildings once held a central place in their communities and separating them from that context destroys those connections to a very real past, and to our own sense of identity. This one needs more than new paint. It needs a secure future if it is to last another century.

Penelope Frost is a freelance writer who lives in Auckland.