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Jean Batten Building

Trying to save a building in Auckland is a bit of a chore... The Jean Batten Building in downtown Auckland received heritage 'protection' last month ending months of uncertainty about the future of the distinctive moderne building... or has it?

The Jean Batten Building was built in 1937 for an expanding civil service. It was designed by John Mair, Government Architect. In late December the building received a Category 1 heritage registration from the Historic Places Trust - the same as the Treaty of Waitangi buildings in Northland. Despite this, the owner could still knock it down. So a week later Historic Places awarded a turbo-charged RMA heritage order to the building which should keep it standing a bit longer.

Curiously, over at the other end of the Law, the High Court has just ruled that the demolition permit is still valid. The only reason the BNZ and Multiplex can't use it is that they signed a moratorium with the council saying they wouldn't lay a bobcat on the building for a while, which was very nice of them. At the signing, Auckland City issued a press release saying,
"Buildings can be protected under the district plan as either a category A or a category B building. In the case of the Jean Batten State Building a demolition consent has been issued and it would take precedence over any protection under the district plan."
http://www.bnz.co.nz/binaries/mr100305.pdf

The Jean Batten is (very arguably) the first large city building to face demolition in Auckland's CBD since about 1990. The reason for this is that a fair percentage of Auckland was speculatively knocked down in the mid 1980s. Most Aucklanders over 30 look back at that era with a shudder, so much of the city's 19th century fabric was lost. In 1987 the bottom fell out of the building boom, leaving Auckland with rather too many at-grade parking lots.

Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins, writing in the NZ Listener about this very building, says that, "heritage can easily be dismissed as sentiment, especially when juxtaposed with the inalienable right to make a profit. Yet, what we have demolished over the past 25 years is not only our heritage, but also the communal memories of resident Aucklanders."

NZ HERALD 20.12.05 (will expire soon)
ACC PRESS RELEASE 21.12.05
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