From Sunday best to suburban bliss
A developer hopes his plans to convert a 135-year-old Petone church into apartments will inspire others to save historic buildings.
Tony Cook bought the Lower Hutt suburb’s Wesley Church on Nelson St two years ago.
It had sat unused since 2013 after being deemed an earthquake risk.
The church was built in 1883 and is the oldest church in the seaside Lower Hutt suburb.
Cook said his plans to turn the old church into three ‘‘luxury’’ apartments would preserve the building’s character and a part of the area’s history.
He wanted to ‘‘do it right’’ by preserving much of the building’s exterior while transforming the inside into modern, two-storey, openplan apartments.
‘‘It’s going to be pretty special. I’m really passionate about what I’m doing here and when its finished it will be something that the whole of Petone and the Hutt can be proud of.’’
Cook, who grew up and has lived most of his life in Petone, remembered the church from when he was younger and later watched it fall into disuse.
His idea to give the building a new lease on life came after visiting the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby, where he was impressed by the number of old houses and buildings that had been modernised.
When Cook bought the property, it was ‘‘still a church’’ complete with Bibles, pews, pulpit, stained glass windows and a 1914 pipe organ built in Wellington.
Work has already begun to restore the building’s front facade to its original state, with the removal of a veranda believed to have been added in the 1950s. The hall to the rear of the property, also built in the 1950s, has also been cleared away to make room for a planned garage and courtyard, though further work on the property has ceased while an archaeological assessment is carried out.
A joiner by trade, Cook said he loved old wooden buildings. He wanted to set an example to other developers and show them the value in preserving older sites for the community.
Nearby residents had been dropping into see what was happening and were for the most part satisfied the church would be preserved and used again, he said.