Sign In / Register
Well over a year after being inundated during the 2023 floods, Puhoi’s historic riverside library is on the road to being restored, repaired and reopened.
The tiny stone building was almost completely submerged by floodwater during three successive storms, with water going over the top of the door and ruining more than 6000 books, documents and photographs.
The library, which is run by volunteers, remained full of silt and yellow-stickered for months, while Auckland Council dealt with the wider aftermath of the storms across the region
There were fears that the library, which was built in 1924 and is one of the smallest in New Zealand, may have to be moved or closed altogether. However, council’s parks and community facilities department now has a plan in place for its full repair and restoration, and work is scheduled to start in spring.
Senior project manager for Rodney Aaron Pickering said the library’s flooring and shelving had been removed and put into storage, and architects and engineers had been working on a redesign.
“A number of professionals have been working on a seismic strengthened renewal design that tries to incorporate the building’s heritage values,” he said. “Additional challenges include the desire to include features that reduce the impact of future flooding events.”
Pickering said resource, building and heritage consents were about to be sought, with work due to start in November that would take a year to complete.
He added that design and consent costs would likely run to around $70,000, but there was not a good estimate of the full renewal costs at this point. The project is proposed to be funded by Rodney Local Board’s renewal capital expenditure budget.
