Ex-maternity hospital to get new life
One of Invercargill’s oldest buildings, the 160-year-old former maternity hospital on Dee St, has a new owner.
It had been lying vacant for nearly a decade, and was listed for sale about three months ago.
But now, the property has been bought by The Troopers Memorial Corner Charitable Trust, which would endeavour to restore it to its former glory.
The trust, which had previously undertaken the restoration of the former NSW Bank building on Dee St and Yule House on Ness St, will begin the former hospital’s restoration soon.
Trust secretary and treasurer Joan Scarlet said only when the conservation and engineer’s reports were done would they be able to say what kind of restoration the buildings would require.
“It is really just an open book at the moment.
“We'll probably have to do it in stages because of the enormity of the size of it, and because there are three buildings - two main buildings and the Porter’s Lodge.”
As to how long it would take to finish the project, Scarlet said, “how long is a piece of string?”
“I may not even be around by the time we finish it.
“We think it’s going to take us a long time.
“If we do it in stages, and we've got to talk to [the funders] as well, because money is not so easy to get as it was once.”
Completed in 1863, the hospital building has Historic Places Category 1 status, giving it significant national heritage importance.
The 2465m² property has three separate buildings – the central block, the south wing, and Porter’s Lodge, as well as fences and gates associated with the hospital.
The trust had considered buying the property in 2009, but when it went on the market the trust thought it overpriced and lost interest, Scarlet said.
Making the buildings earthquake safe would be part of the restoration.
“We know that a lot of it is brick walling, so that will have to be seen to.” The interesting thing about the buildings was it was “where people started their lives”, Scarlet said.
There would be people around the world who had an association with the building, she said.
The building was the “entrance to the CBD of Invercargill” and the trust was hoping to tap in to level of support it had received for its previous two projects from businesses and the general public, and perhaps “a wider audience than just local”.
“We want to create that excitement that something's going to happen,” she said.
“It's been sitting there for so long and nothing's been done to it, and it's deteriorating as we speak.”
Scarlet said it was not going to be an easy or quick fix.
“But it's going to be beautiful when we finish.”
The trust had previously received donations from entities including the Lotteries Commission, the Invercargill City Council, the HW Richardson Group and the Invercargill Licensing Trust, and from the general public, she said.