RAPID PROGRESS ON EXHIBITION

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 146, 16 March 1939, Page 8

RAPID PROGRESS ON EXHIBITION

Striking Colour Scheme

MODELLING DOMINION COURT

Immense progress is being made weekly with the construction of the Centennial Exhibition in Rongotai. The bandshells and the entire exterior of the main buildings are now either completed or very nearly so, and are gay with paint in skilfullychosen pastel colours. The lakes and fountain cascade are being prepared; lighting pylons are being erected along Centennial Avenue; the huge restaurant, to seat 1500 people, is nearly ready for its internal fittings; the foundations of the creche have been laid. In the immediate future the erection of the amusement park, Playland, and the British Government Pavilion will be put in hand.

The most striking feature of the buildings at present is their attractive colour scheme of corn-yellow, set off with pillarbox red on the ornamental scrolls on either side of the bandshells. The shells themselves are lined in a variety of pastel colours, and are of considerable aesthetic appeal. Centennial Tower is almost ready for the removal of the scaffolding; a danger flag for aircraft flies from its topmost flagstaff; and on the .eastern face, above the balcony, the figures 1940 are written nine feet high. Below, in the wide open courts, the basins for the pools are being lined and the framework of the cascade prepared. On either side of Centennial Avenue floodlight pylons are being erected—eight double and 26 single upright pillars and 36 flagpoles.

Foundations of the creche, 90 feet by 30, have been laid at the north-east corner of the main buildings, and the building will progress quickly. The. restaurant, with its 100-foot bay window, will be one of the most attractive sections of the main buildings. It will overlook Playland, on the Rongotai College playing fields. The ground floor will comprise eafetaria and entrance hall and stairways; the upper story will house the kitchens and the restaurant proper. Besides the main stairways giving access from the exhibition courtyards, a spiral stairway will lead from the eafetaria to the restaurant, to serve those entering from Playland. The restaurant wdl seat 1400 to 1500 people, and from its sunny and congenial situation and outlook is likely to be a favourite dining place during the centennial. The Dominion Court.

Greatest progress is being made with the Dominion Court. Thirty artists and 50 carpenters are busy there. In a fortnight the whole interior of the court has changed. Magically, rolling hills and vistas of distant mountains lining a dim horizon have grown up along one side, and on the other a mass of tangled woodwork gives away the secret of how the illusion is created.

Like giants bn this modelled skyline, dungaree-clad girls with paintbrushes sit giving the finishing touches to the landscape. The clever modelling and skilful painting create a remarkable effect of space and distance. Much will be achieved by clever lighting. A starry sky will arch overhead, its constellations plotted by Dominion Observatory astronomers. Meantime the model-making staff is preparing the wealth of detail to be superimposed upon this landscape of at present bare hills. The builders of toy houses are working on the main buildings of Wellington—the railway station, reduced to an eight-inch frontage, the shops along Lambton Quay, the Dominion Farmers’ Institute, four Inches high, and diminutive replicas of many well-known Wellington buildings. Another outstanding feature is a tiny model of a section of Waitomo Caves, brilliantly executed, with human figures standing gazing up at the grotesque limestone formations. This will be set among the pillars of the cave in, such a way as to create the illusion of a glimpse down a vast cavern at a remote party of visitors. Public Excluded.

Members of the publie, pow excluded from the entire exhibition grounds, are being specially rigorously prevented from entering the court. It. is desired as far as possible to keep its wonders secret and spring them as a surprise on the public, and also to prevent the effect of the illusions being spoilt by public knowledge of how they are done.

Last Saturday, however, though the public test of the soundshells was cancelled because of rain, many people were permitted to inspect the buildings, and actually forced one of the entrances to Dominion Court to see what was going on inside. Next Sundnv, when the sound tests are carried out and the public admitted to tlie grounds, it is most improbable that visitors will be permitted to see inside Dominion Court.

(Pictures on Page 7.)