ROSS Herewini from Oparure watches the demolition of the old railway sheds at Te Kūiti earlier this week.
NINETEENTH century railway sheds in Te Kūiti are being demolished in time for next weekend’s celebrations at Te Kuiti Pā. Scope Group contractors are removing the buildings on behalf of Lands and Survey, which until recently was responsible for the site. The land will be turned into a carpark in time for Te Kūiti Pā’s 150th anniversary, starting on December 2, with Te Rangiwaituhi, the Deed of Settlement ceremony on December 4, where more than 3000 people are expected to attend. Pā caretaker Shannon Manawaiti made the request to clear the area. “It was a request from me to those who managed the property [ahead of its return], to Lands and Survey, to request the land be tidied up in time for the event. It is to be remediated [when] the title comes back on Thursday, but they have given me the assurance that it will be ready.” Ross Herewini from Ōpārure Pā was at the site, watching the demolition this Tuesday after previously salvaging timber. More salvageable He would have liked to save more, he said, but did not have the heavy equipment. Scope Group’s contract gave them no choice but to demolish the buildings, Ross said, but they were ‘nice guys’ and let locals have the materials. “They were willing to allow us to take out as much as we could. We’ve got quite a bit out of it so far. On behalf of the ones around here, we’ll be able to distribute it.” He said similar or identical weatherboards were also used in from 19th Century homes around Ōpārure. “Any of our old ones that have houses that need to be renovated, we can use the same wood for that if we’ve got it.” He said he hoped that a home belonging to his family, an old building opposite Te Kōhanga Reo o Ōpārure, could be repaired in this way. More should have been done to salvage materials from the site, he said. “If it had been done correctly, we could have recovered almost everything.” “It’s wood that came from here, been milled here, cut, milled, most of this is a hundred years old. And the trees it has come from, they don’t exist any more. You can’t go and find an eight-metre piece of rimu, heart rimu which is the most beautiful wood. “To go to the tip is a terrible waste.” Some materials could not be remediated because of lead contamination on the site. The demolition had a spiritual element. Ross said during the first blessing of the project, people present had felt the wairua of a man named George – known to have died at the building – make his presence known. Significant change The sheds’ structure has changed significantly over time – at first the structure was only a small shed, later expanded over the years. First, they were on one side of the railway lines, and then they were moved to the other. The railway station platform also changed sides. Originally, workers could load trains from inside the sheds. Lands and Survey has commissioned Christchurch-based archaelogical firm Underground Overground Archaeology Ltd to report on the history of the sheds, which will be publicly available.
