Is This The End Of Nelson's Richard Nixon Statue?
A small Tasman town faces an important question: keep the infamous statue of Richard Nixon or build a community hub instead?
The life-size bronze statue of the disgraced US president has bemused residents of Wakefield, about 20km south of Nelson, for more than a decade.
The statue, holding Nixon's double peace sign pose, stands on the notorious 52 Edward Street site known as Fort Haldeman - reportedly the former office of the locally defunct publishing company Haldeman LLC, that had been partly owned by controversial businessman Tony Katavich.
According to a list on Wikipedia, the statue is only one of two Nixon statues in the world.
But Nixon's days, as well as those of the White House-inspired building he welcomes visitors to, could be numbered.
Tasman District Council is currently progressing plans for a new community hub for Wakefield to replace the ageing and earthquake-prone village hall.
The hub had earlier been assumed to be built on the Wakefield Recreation Reserve, but the current owners of Fort Haldeman approached the council in early 2025 about the possibility of building the hub on their site instead.
Peter Verstappen, a Waimea South Community Facility trustee, said the opportunity "came out left of field a little bit".
"Until six months ago, this wasn't even a question. We were always heading to the reserve," he said.
"In a way, it kind of complicated the process going forward, because suddenly we've got this other whole dimension that we now have to think about."
The council is now consulting the community on its preference between the two locations.
There are pros and cons to each site, with the reserve offering more space for future expansion but higher costs for infrastructure and utilities, while the Fort Haldeman site is closer to the centre of the village but has fewer future expansion opportunities.
Verstappen said, "in all honesty", he doesn't have a site preference.
"From what I've seen, I'm reasonably confident we can build the facility that we want, that answers most of the needs of the community, on either site."
The council and trust held two community meetings last Tuesday for residents to learn more about the two options.
Martin Brown, the council's project manager for the hub, told around 20 attendees of the afternoon session at Wakefield School that it was "very early days" for the Fort Haldeman site.
"We're having conversations with the vendors currently. It may or may not progress, but that's part of the process we're having."
A representative for the company that now owns Fort Haldeman declined to comment due to commercial sensitivities.
The final decision on the location rests with the council and is expected to be made in August, with detailed design work and community fundraising to occur afterwards.
Elected members will be presented with site information as well as community feedback ahead of their decision.
While the full range of feedback might differ, comments from attendees of the Tuesday afternoon meeting indicated widespread support for the original Wakefield Recreation Reserve site due to its development potential, possibly saving Nixon from removal.
"We're building this for not just the present, or even the present decade; we're building it for 50 years, and we need expansion space," one woman said.
Moutere-Waimea Ward councillor Christeen Mackenzie has been pushing the project since she was first elected six years ago.
She said trying to plan for 50 years' time was like trying to look into a "crystal ball".
"Do you have one big shooting box for absolutely everything in one location? That is not necessarily what you might need into the future. Introducing the idea of Site 2 [Fort Haldeman], I think it's giving the community an opportunity to think about that," she said.
"If someone comes to the council with a proposal, you've got to do your due diligence and think about it."
The Wakefield Community Hub has a budget of around $11 million with $6.4m coming from developers, $2.5m from community fundraising, and $2.1m coming from a loan that will be repaid over time from an existing community facility pot that was funded through rates.
Residents can have their say here.
The Wakefield hub used to be part of a collective community facility project for Waimea South, including the town of Brightwater.
But the two town's projects have since been split apart, and Brightwater's public hall will be upgraded at a cost of about $2.5m.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Trump hails 'giant win' after US Supreme Court curbs judges
By Danny Kemp and Chris Lefkow , AFP US President Donald Trump Photo: AFP / Brendan Smialowski US President Donald Trump said on Friday (US time) he can now push through a raft of controversial policies after the Supreme Court handed him a "giant win" by curbing the ability of lone judges to block his powers nationwide. In a 6-3 ruling stemming from Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship, the court said nationwide injunctions issued by individual district court judges likely exceed their authority. "This was a tremendous win," Trump told reporters in a hastily arranged press conference at the White House. "I want to just thank again the Supreme Court for this ruling." Trump said he would now proceed with "so many policies" that had been "wrongly" blocked, including his bid to end birthright citizenship, and stopping funding for transgender people and "sanctuary cities" for migrants. US Attorney General Pam Bondi, standing alongside Trump at the podium, said the ruling would stop "rogue judges striking down President Trump's policies across the entire nation". Democrats swiftly blasted the decision, saying it would embolden Trump as he pushes the boundaries of presidential power in his second term. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called it a "terrifying step toward authoritarianism". Trump however rejected concerns about the concentration of power in the White House. "This is really the opposite of that," Trump said. "This really brings back the Constitution." Trump separately hailed a "great ruling" by the Supreme Court to let parents opt their children out of LGBTQ-themed lessons at public schools. The Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of Trump's executive order seeking to end automatic citizenship for children born on US soil. But the broader decision on the scope of judicial rulings removes a big roadblock to Trump's often highly contested policy agenda and has far-reaching ramifications for the ability of the judiciary to rein in Trump or future US presidents. Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship is just one of a number of his moves that have been blocked by judges around the country - both Democratic and Republican appointees - since he took office in January. Courts have, for example, blocked or slowed down his hardline immigration crackdown, firing of federal employees, efforts to end diversity programmes and punitive actions against law firms and universities. Past presidents have also complained about national injunctions shackling their agenda, but such orders have sharply risen under Trump, who saw more in his first two months than Democrat Joe Biden did during his first three years in office. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, authored the majority opinion joined by the other five conservative justices. "Federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch," wrote Barrett, who has previously been a frequent target of Trump loyalists over previous decisions that went against the president. US President Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court bench during his first term. Photo: Getty Images The Supreme Court's three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying "no right is safe in the new legal regime the Court creates". Trump's initial reaction to the ruling came in a post on Truth Social, welcomed it as a "GIANT WIN." The case was ostensibly about Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship, which was deemed unconstitutional by courts in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state. But it actually focused on whether a single federal district court judge has the right to issue a nationwide block to a presidential decree with a universal injunction. The issue has become a rallying cry for Trump and his Republican allies, who accuse the judiciary of impeding his agenda against the will of voters. Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, told AFP that the court's ruling "sharply undermines the power of federal courts to rein in lawless actions by the government". Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship decrees that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become citizens. Trump said that the policy "was meant for the babies of slaves," dating back to the US Civil War era in the mid 1800s. -AFP
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Hospo precinct complete
Visual stylist Alex Watts and Ayrburn GM Kieran Turnbull in front of Billy's. PHOTO: PHILIP CHANDLER With next Saturday's opening of opulent, Chinese-inspired restaurant, Billy's, based around a restored homestead, Queenstown's Ayrburn hospitality precinct's complete. Named after farmer William Paterson, who lived with his wife Bessie in the homestead in the late 1800s, Billy's uses five original rooms for dining, supplemented by a large central bar and kitchen. It also has an attached 'orangery', or glass conservatory, which seats another 50 to 60 diners amid lime and lemon trees. The extensive Cantonese-style menu is a nod to the Chinese immigrants who played a major role in the nearby Arrowtown and wider Otago goldrush. "We thought it would work well for our own precinct but also for the wider market," Ayrburn GM Kieran Turnbull says. Ayrburn developer Chris Meehan's again employed architect Jessie Sutherland from Cromwell's SA Studio and Alexander & Co for interior design, in close collaboration with his own Winton team. According to a release, "the venue's interiors are a bold expression of eclectic luxury, featuring velvet banquettes, chinoiserie wallpaper, notable artworks and richly-layered texture that create an atmosphere where history is honoured and indulgence is elevated". Visual stylist Alex Watts notes she sourced 130-plus pieces of art, 85% from New Zealand, over 18 months. Reconstruction of the homestead — one of the first homes in the area featuring electric lighting — was handled by The Builders, while Diemarco built the orangery. Billy's will open Wednesday evenings for dinner and Thursdays through Sundays for both lunch and dinner service. Added to Ayrburn's six existing hospo venues, "it's the final piece of the hospitality puzzle, and it's the puzzle on the board that kind of fits everything together", Turnbull says.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
Is This The End Of Nelson's Richard Nixon Statue?
A small Tasman town faces an important question: keep the infamous statue of Richard Nixon or build a community hub instead? The life-size bronze statue of the disgraced US president has bemused residents of Wakefield, about 20km south of Nelson, for more than a decade. The statue, holding Nixon's double peace sign pose, stands on the notorious 52 Edward Street site known as Fort Haldeman - reportedly the former office of the locally defunct publishing company Haldeman LLC, that had been partly owned by controversial businessman Tony Katavich. According to a list on Wikipedia, the statue is only one of two Nixon statues in the world. But Nixon's days, as well as those of the White House-inspired building he welcomes visitors to, could be numbered. Tasman District Council is currently progressing plans for a new community hub for Wakefield to replace the ageing and earthquake-prone village hall. The hub had earlier been assumed to be built on the Wakefield Recreation Reserve, but the current owners of Fort Haldeman approached the council in early 2025 about the possibility of building the hub on their site instead. Peter Verstappen, a Waimea South Community Facility trustee, said the opportunity "came out left of field a little bit". "Until six months ago, this wasn't even a question. We were always heading to the reserve," he said. "In a way, it kind of complicated the process going forward, because suddenly we've got this other whole dimension that we now have to think about." The council is now consulting the community on its preference between the two locations. There are pros and cons to each site, with the reserve offering more space for future expansion but higher costs for infrastructure and utilities, while the Fort Haldeman site is closer to the centre of the village but has fewer future expansion opportunities. Verstappen said, "in all honesty", he doesn't have a site preference. "From what I've seen, I'm reasonably confident we can build the facility that we want, that answers most of the needs of the community, on either site." The council and trust held two community meetings last Tuesday for residents to learn more about the two options. Martin Brown, the council's project manager for the hub, told around 20 attendees of the afternoon session at Wakefield School that it was "very early days" for the Fort Haldeman site. "We're having conversations with the vendors currently. It may or may not progress, but that's part of the process we're having." A representative for the company that now owns Fort Haldeman declined to comment due to commercial sensitivities. The final decision on the location rests with the council and is expected to be made in August, with detailed design work and community fundraising to occur afterwards. Elected members will be presented with site information as well as community feedback ahead of their decision. While the full range of feedback might differ, comments from attendees of the Tuesday afternoon meeting indicated widespread support for the original Wakefield Recreation Reserve site due to its development potential, possibly saving Nixon from removal. "We're building this for not just the present, or even the present decade; we're building it for 50 years, and we need expansion space," one woman said. Moutere-Waimea Ward councillor Christeen Mackenzie has been pushing the project since she was first elected six years ago. She said trying to plan for 50 years' time was like trying to look into a "crystal ball". "Do you have one big shooting box for absolutely everything in one location? That is not necessarily what you might need into the future. Introducing the idea of Site 2 [Fort Haldeman], I think it's giving the community an opportunity to think about that," she said. "If someone comes to the council with a proposal, you've got to do your due diligence and think about it." The Wakefield Community Hub has a budget of around $11 million with $6.4m coming from developers, $2.5m from community fundraising, and $2.1m coming from a loan that will be repaid over time from an existing community facility pot that was funded through rates. Residents can have their say here. The Wakefield hub used to be part of a collective community facility project for Waimea South, including the town of Brightwater. But the two town's projects have since been split apart, and Brightwater's public hall will be upgraded at a cost of about $2.5m.
