Facelift for city street corner worth up to $50,000
A central Hamilton street corner is in for a $50,000 facelift before it gets a new statue but the city’s newest councillor has questioned the spend.
A statue of political pioneer Dame Hilda Ross will be installed outside Starbucks on the corner of Ward Street and Worley Place in early 2019.
Hamilton City Council doesn’t have to fork out for the statue itself, thanks to heritage trust TOTI, but councillors decided the street corner it’s going on needs work.
Council shouldn’t go ‘‘plonking somebody’s very special artwork in an average space and hoping it will shine enough,’’ Councillor Paula Southgate said.
‘‘If we do nothing [around the statue] this is just a street corner ... with some unattractive planter boxes and, actually, some unattractive plants within those planter boxes.’’
Most councillors agreed: Tuesday’s vote was 11-2 in favour of spending up to $50,000 on an upgrade which includes new seating and planting.
Dame Hilda Ross was Hamilton’s first female councillor, held roles in central government, was a piano teacher, and co-founded children’s health camps.
Deputy Mayor Martin Gallagher predicted a big return on the plaza investment, but selfdescribed ‘‘new boy’’ Cr Ryan Hamilton tried to halve the budget after talk of private funding.
‘‘If business sees council signalling money, no-one’s going to say ‘We’ll donate’ ,’’ he said.
Reducing council’s contribution to $25,000 could ease rates pressure and leave room for business partnerships, he said, but that plan was outvoted.
But Hamilton wasn’t the only one to question the cost or the need for the work.
Ananda Card was reading to son Francis, 2, in the plaza yesterday and was surprised to hear about the upgrade.
‘‘Really? I think it’s fine as it is,’’ she said.
Piri Wilson is a student at the nearby New Zealand School of Tourism and thought the upgrade was a waste of money.
‘‘We’ve got a lot of seats. We don’t need any more.’’
A statue wouldn’t do anything, she said, and she would prefer to see council money go to community groups which support people who are homeless, or animal shelters.
Hamilton man Graham Fulton often has a coffee at Starbucks but said there were better things for council to spend money on at the moment. He wanted more focus on helping beggars on Hamilton streets and also opposed council’s decision to change part of Ward Street’s name to Dame Hilda Ross Place.
But the majority of councillors supported the up to $50,000 spend on what will be known as Dame Hilda Ross Plaza.
That would cover new seating, a smaller planter box, replacement planting, pavement cleaning, and moving a WEL Energy box and rubbish bins. The cost could be covered by savings from another project, councillors heard, such as Victoria on the River.
It didn’t convince Cr Leo Tooman.
‘‘I can’t support $50,000 to move a few rubbish tins around and move the old electricity box,’’ he said.
Cr Angela O’Leary was also opposed, saying the communityled redevelopment of Embassy Park had been waiting years for funding.