Latest news with #DunedinGasworks
RNZ News
12-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Dunedin Gasworks Museum to reopen after repairs
The chimney at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum, with machinery nearby. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton New Zealand's only gasworks museum will reopen after repairs to its 25-metre high chimney. The Dunedin Gasworks Museum was closed in April after cracks were discovered in the chimney stack due to possible earthquake damage. The category-one historic place, owned by the Dunedin City Council, was last month found to be in a worse condition than first thought . The damaged chimney stack at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum. Photo: SUPPLIED / DUNEDIN CITY COUNCIL The council's property services group manager Anna Nilsen said contractors spent three weeks removing about 4000 bricks from the top of the chimney, lowering its height by about four metres. "The expert advice we've received is that the chimney is no longer an imminent risk to the safety of those around it, so the dangerous building notice issued last month has now been lifted and the exclusion zone around the chimney has been removed," she said. The museum could return to almost normal operations without the use of the chimney for now, she said. An affected building notice issued to the neighbouring Woolworths supermarket had also been lifted. The total cost of the repairs had not been confirmed. The council had requested a full condition assessment of the chimney and that would determine what further work would be needed and whether it could be used safely. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Dots to showcase local lore
South Dunedin is going dotty for fast facts. Dream South D plans to display a series of "Did You Know" dots showcasing interesting stories from the suburb. Project lead Rosie Hill said the aim was to celebrate the area's unique identity. "The idea of the project is to build on that pride of place and connect." About 20 dots will soon appear near the main shopping precinct of King Edward St. "We have tried to do it in a fairly concentrated area of South Dunedin to get a bit of impact." Each circle carries a nugget of local lore: the invention of the chop-suey pattie at Nanking Palace Restaurant; the suburb's claim to patenting Hokey Pokey ice cream in 1896; the first New Zealand hot-air balloon ascent and parachute jump at the former Caledonian Ground by United States showman Thomas Baldwin in 1889. The dots also highlight landmarks such as the Donaghys Industries 320m long rope-walk building and the Dunedin Gasworks site. "We have tried to keep it quite light with some fun facts, but then also highlighting places of significant heritage in South Dunedin," Mrs Hill said. Volunteer "history buff" Patricia McLean helped research information and check facts. "She was very happy to help." The first panels focus on post-settlement facts but the aim is to broaden them to include earlier history. "We would love to get a deep dive more into prior to settlement as well. "We know that this was a big food-gathering area." The project has been designed in two stages. The first stage is the temporary trial of the dots that have been created on corflute and not permanently fixed. Stage two will invite the local community such as residents, businesses and mana whenua to share their own stories. "I feel like we have only just got the tip of the iceberg." Other possible developments include adding QR codes that link to further information about particular sites. Another idea is to create a walking trail or digital trail so people can visit each location. "If it is very well-received by the community, we would certainly like to investigate some lovely permanent signs in the future." Dream South D is a five-year project funded by Department of Internal Affairs — Te Tari Taiwhenua as part of its community-led development programme. "We have got two years left, so now it is kind of 'go time' for us. "It is really time to run and push out a lot of things, we have got a lot of stuff in the pipeline," Mrs Hill said. • To contribute to future 'dots', email hello@
RNZ News
14-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Dismantling of historic Dunedin Gasworks chimney begins
The Dunedin City Council says the chimney at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum is in worse condition than first thought. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton Workers will start the careful, brick by brick dismantling of a historic Dunedin landmark - aiming to repair it and put it back together in the future. The Dunedin Gasworks Museum was closed last month to assess the safety of the 25-metre tall chimney after possible earthquake damage. Dunedin City Council owns the Category 1 historic place, and said a recent update found it was in worse condition than first thought. The chimney - a relic of the country's only gasworks - has stood proud over South Dunedin since the 1800s. But last month, an assessment found there was an imminent risk to public safety. The latest news painted a grim picture: once work to repair the cracks got underway, the chimney might collapse. Naylor Love is tasked with the urgent work. Its project and interiors manager Paul Stevenson said it was a big job ahead. "The cracks are appearing quite considerably. We're having corrosion inside the chimney, which is expanding, which is opening up those joints now," he said. A crane carrying what looked like a skip hovered near the top of the chimney, as workers secured the walers - 12 metre long timbers - to minimise the risk of it falling down. Naylor Love project and interiors manager Paul Stevenson. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton Below the chimney is a no-go zone. "We have to bring it down piece by piece, record it with the hope in the future of rebuilding it and the concern was if we didn't put the walers around we'd lose a lot of that ... it'll just naturally want to fall out," Stevenson said. At least the top four to six metres will come down before the chimney is reassessed, but he was not ruling out more going if that was what it took to make it safe again. He was working within tight rules because the gasworks is a Category 1 historic place. "So we photograph, we pull them out, we number them, we record them, we bring them down, we put them on pallets and store them so we can, in theory, piece the whole thing back together," he said. "Each layer, three bricks all the way around, also maintaining the ladder rungs that are in there and all that, we need to record all that with the hope of being able to rebuild it in the future." Dunedin City Council property services group manager Anna Nilsen said it was trying to save as much of the chimney as possible. It had been a difficult time for the Dunedin Gasworks Museum Trust, which operates the museum. "It's not their best news, for sure, but they're supportive of the work that we're doing. They're supportive of keeping the bricks aside for future restoration so we're working together pretty closely," Nilsen said. Last year, an engineering review recommended the council do a more detailed seismic assessment of the chimney. Dunedin City Council property services group manager Anna Nilsen said detailed inspections had been carried out using drones and crane access. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton Anna Nilsen did not believe the problems and risks should have been noticed earlier. "The review that we did last year was a starting point so it was the beginning of a seismic assessment," she said. "That first step was a desk based seismic assessment where it was just the start, we were getting ready to do the full seismic assessment which would have uncovered these things that we now know." It was not known how much the work would cost, but she said it had to be done. "I'd hate to give you a ballpark [be]cause I'd just be guessing at this stage. Look, it's health and safety. It's human life that we're talking about so we're always going to be able to find funds to do that and that's what we're challenged to do," Nilsen said. The dismantling is expected to take about three weeks. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
