Bluestone Wall Deconstruction Begins
Work has this month started on the temporary removal of one of Auckland’s most historic landmarks to make room for the project.
The 139-year-old bluestone wall in Albert Street, in the city centre, is being shifted block by block out of the way of CRL construction.
“While we’re building for Auckland’s future, we’re also determined to preserve its past,” says Matt Sinclair, Aotea Station Manager for the Link Alliance.
“The bluestone wall will be put into storage until we’ve finished constructing the tunnel and Aotea Station and then we will be putting those blocks back in place and restoring a significant part of Auckland’s heritage.”
The historic wall is built from local material – bluestone, also known as basalt – and was erected on the eastern side of Albert Street between Wyndham and Victoria Streets in 1881 at a time of significant infrastructure expansion in Auckland.
The wall’s underground public toilet was one of the city’s first. The wrought iron railings, piers and the ornamental arch over the stairs on the side of the wall are some of Auckland’s last remaining examples of street furniture dating back to the Victorian age.
It will take about three months to dismantle the wall. Stonemasons are cutting it into 1800 blocks, numbering each block and storing them safely off-site until the wall is rebuilt in 2023 as part of urban realm improvements.
“It’s going to be a bit like fitting a jigsaw together except all our pieces will be rocks, not bits of cardboard or wood, there will be no missing pieces and we’ll know where every piece fits,” says Mr Sinclair.
Things will not be quite the same as they were, however, when the wall is re-erected. Because of the size of the tunnel and station, the wall will have to move one metre further east – towards Queen Street – from its original location. And the public toilet, which has been closed for some time, will not re-open. Its entrance will be used as a maintenance access for the CRL.
The new 150-metre-long section of tunnel being built by the Link Alliance will connect the new Aotea underground station with the tunnel already built from Britomart Station and under the lower end of Albert Street as far as Wyndham Street.
