Leaders share creative ideas to revive Wellington's Civic Square
Friday, 23 August 2019
Despite the Wellington Central Library, Civic Administration Building, and Town Hall being closed due to seismic issues, city leaders say there's still hope for Civic Square.
'Whatever we do, let's not do all the same old same old,' Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Milford said.
'It needs to be for the people. It needs to be putting things there that people want to do and want to enjoy.'
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If the void left by the council was filled with hospitality businesses Civic Square could become 'more than a nine-to-five place', he said.
The Wellington City Council, Victoria University and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra plan to strengthen and redevelop the Town Hall.
There was an interesting debate to be had, Milford said.
'I'd like to see it become a vibrant new arts centre that's great for tourists and for Wellingtonians as well.'
Wellington developer Ian Cassels said the 'currently languishing' Civic Square needed hotels, bars and entertainment to attract people.
'It's a civic asset that gets really little use from the public … it could be made to work a hell of a lot better,' he said.
'Imagine walking past a jazz club there at night … it'd be great to have real life down there.'
Wellington City Council chief city planner David Chick said a strategy proposal for the Civic Precent would be presented to councillors after local body elections.
He said the process to develop the national music centre, which would house the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the New Zealand School of Music –Te Kōkī, was underway. A café or retail space on the ground floor was also planned for the music centre, which will help to make Te Ngākau 'even more of a people place'.
'We want to ensure that we further strengthen the area to truly become the cultural heart of the city.'
Event bookings for Te Ngākau Civic Square for the rest of 2019 and into early 2020 were similar to other years. So far, there had been 28 events and the council expected the final figure for the year to reach about 50 to 60 events.
OUTDOOR PERFORMANCES
Events producer Joff Rae said the space is massively under-utilised but had loads of potential for summertime events.
'There's been a lack of effort in making use of that space. Civic Square has a real arts feel to it so would be perfect for a sculpture symposium, which would have residual effects.
'It would be great for concerts. The acoustics are not great but with clever design that could be mitigated.
'I think you have to think outside the square here and look at different events. It could be used for a charity boxing match. It would be perfect as an outdoor cinema event space.
DANCE EVENTS
Natraj School of Dance founder and director Prabhavathi Ravi said Civic Square lends itself perfectly to a dance flash mob-esque event.
Ravi teaches classical Indian dance (Bharatanatyam) but she's advocating flash mob-type of gathering at the square that would involve several cultural dance groups.
'The message here is inclusion, diversity, collaboration - bringing everyone together in one place to perform their own dance to one piece of music.
'The purpose would not be to show ability but to demonstrate social integration and how we live in harmony. It's a powerful message - that anyone and everyone can come together in the spirit of friendship.'
New Zealand Festival executive director Meg Williams said it's a fantastic space but with so many entrances and exits closed it might limit what is possible.
'But it's important for the City Gallery and Nikau cafe for something to be happening there.'
Wellington mayor Justin Lester said the square could become a sculptural park or host evening sport tournaments.
'If people have got ideas, we'd love to hear them.'
When Victoria University and the Symphony Orchestra moved in, it would become 'a national precinct for performing arts', he said.
'It's going to be better than ever.'
ART
Contemporary Māori artist Johnson Witehira said the square was ripe for digital interactive experiences.
He said the success of Te Papa's 2011 Ka Mate exhibition, which taught visitors the haka ahead of the Rugby World Cup, showed a great appetite for interactive experiences.
A digital inspired experience, something big and semi permanent, would work well there, he said.
'We don't have much digital work around the Wellington like other cities.
'The Square is a big canvas. With the library and council buildings there is space to have large scale digital interactive screens that would work in the day but come to life at night.'
Wellington Sculpture Trust chairwoman Sue Elliott said with hoardings up around the Town Hall, and perhaps soon the library too, they could make the perfect space for displaying new art.
'I did wonder about passing it over to the Massey College of Creative Arts and getting students to put up temporary art works on to the hoardings.'
Events impresario Chris Morley-Hall the creative force behind the Cuba Street Carnival and Second Unit, reckons the City Gallery should make use of the square.
'It's a unique opportunity for the gallery to expand and exhibit big scale work it would not be able to show otherwise.'
SPORT SPACE
A Sport Wellington spokeswoman said while it had no plans to use the square for any sporting events, it supported anything that got more Wellingtonians active.
The square would be a good venue for events like three-on-three basketball tournaments, she said.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said they don't have a budget for the events in Civic Square because most events there are held by and funded by other organisations.
Previous uses for Te Ngākau Civic Square
Occupy Wellington (2011)
A pop-up beach (2014)
The ICC Cricket World Cup 'village green' (2015)
A Poi E/Thriller Flash Mob (2015)
An outdoor cinema
Free yoga day (2016)
Vigil for Grace Millane (2018)
Wellington region teacher strike (2019)