What next for Anderson House?
Southland’s grandest residence is Anderson House, the former home of Sir Robert and Lady Elizabeth Anderson. Sir Robert died in 1942 and on the death of Lady Anderson, the family donated the house and the 24 hectares of the then Victoria Park to the city.
The Georgian-style residence had been built in 1925. The gallery has an extensive collection of mainly New Zealand paintings, pottery and sculpture.
The grounds are extensively landscaped with flower gardens, rose garden, playground and duck pond and there is a track through the adjacent bush. The house and park are a little off the beaten track, on the northwestern corner of the city, but a gem to visit at any time of the year.
The house was for many years an art gallery, but it has been closed to the public for some time for earthquake strengthening and discussions continue as to the best use for it – function centre, gallery and so on.
19th century doomsayer
There have always been doomsayers predicting the end of the world and a visiting climate change expert was reported in the Otago Witness in September 1874 . . . ‘‘Professor Plantamour, who foresaw our destruction by celestial fire last summer, has so far corrected his error as to prophesy that the earth’s inhabitants will be frozen to death in the year 2011. This date frees him at least from the embarrassment of being twitted of a second mistake.’’
Although there have been a few chilly Southland mornings since then, 2011 passed with the prophecy unfulfilled.
Antarctic vision
In the 1960s Antarctica was being opened up to exploration and scientific research. Why not live there year round? Invercargill was the jumping off point for the Antarctic flights and the frozen continent was always newsworthy. The Southland Daily News reported on the possibility on October 25, 1960.
‘‘Antarctica populated with men, women and children living the year round in an artificial climate under acres of ice is envisaged in the foreseeable future by three American newspapermen who arrived in Christchurch today after a week at McMurdo Sound. The newspapermen say this is possible because:
1) Scientific study now being carried out in Antarctica base camps and automatic weather stations dropped from aircraft may prove invaluable in predicting weather for the whole southern hemisphere. The automatic stations set themselves up on tripods when landing and broadcast temperatures, air velocities and barometric pressures for two months.
2) World authorities now speak of starvation menacing many lands as population increases and food resources do not keep pace. An accommodation hotel in New Zealand’s Antarctic Territory was proposed by the president of the Southland Progress League last night.