NAPIER'S RECOVERY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 28, 3 February 1932, Page 9

NAPIER'S RECOVERY

'QUAKE ANNIVERSARY

TWELVE MONTHS* PROGRESS

BUILDING; OVER £500,000 -/ . —- ■ ' :

« One year has wrought in Napier a . ctango that must \be recognised as a 'reflection of remarkable activity on the part of its citizens. True, a visitor entering the city to-day for the first time since the earthquake might be prompted to expressions of more than mild..surprise at the evidences of deyastation. still ;to. be seen, but only th.ose who. saw Napier a few days after 3rd February, 1931, realise the great amount of work done to bring about the transformation that has been made in.its appearance; '■ N ; , Those .gaunt shapes, the ruins of ■wrecked; buildings, no longer disfigure the business area. Many have been replaced hy new premises of fresh appear- ■> ante and attractive design. Not one has been completely untouched; those which have not! been, demolished- have at, least been cleared .of the heaps of broken- masonry which filled the remnants of their walls. Streets which, twelve months agO, were feet deep in debris in many places, have^been.cleared and: repaired. Above'all, retail business has been firmly re-established. BOOM XNT BUILDING. * Building in /Napier since February of last year has known unprecedented activity. • An exact estimate, of the value of work done cannot be given, for a great deal has been, of such a character that no record has.been kept. An example is the repair work carried put to bouses without the necessity for obtaining a permit from the municipal authorities. "Work for which permits have been required has a total value of £235,230 17s 9d, of which £268,752 6s 3d is , for by permanent construction and repair or alteration to business premises. A detailed table of building work undertaken in Napier since 14th February, 1931,' -when, the first permit was taken out after ths earthquake, is given below.. The values given for ■permanent buildings and dwellings include Alterations and repairs' of a permanent character, as well as new structures.' . : .i". ■ " -" ' ■ ■: ■■■■■ ■' '-: ■::i' "3 •' 'E?.'' -to ' :■' ■■' ■"" ■"-'' '•■ V :« -'.-I ' ,'/\S-:':- ■..'.;'.: ■■■'■ S :■'s-■'■*■-%' --i- ' ■ - ''-* § ' fc ■ -*» >i .-..-.;-.-.,.\.!■:■:■■<?■ -. x -,; ..■ft..-.1 ■■&'■} ... -■'''''::- :.'■•■':'. £ £■•■-■ £ £ • February; :..' — 5,133 ■-— 5,133 March.;.;. 1,600 18,975 2,455' 23,030 April1; '.:./. 3,782 ' 5,316 -1,579 10,677 May ';.'..'. 17,087 2,023 4,274 25,684 June r'. ■::;.. 24,609 1,010 3,088 28,708 rJuly■•■:■: ...... 74,740 3,512- ,1,759 80,011 August . ... 18,856 , 296 1,731 20,884 September /. . 55,949 ,"■ ' 858 2,334 59,141 October ... 6,354; 550 4,278 11,183 November <Xi 12,799. :?312 2,825 .15,936 December ' . 6,600 , — 262 6,862 January . 44,174 — 3,904 48,079 ■ 268,752 37,968 28,492 335,230 ~ Bepairs to residences, carried out • with funds provided through the Napier Belief Committee;, cost £125,478, and' the Public Works_ Department also incurred/an expenditure of £9362 in reinstating houses. Very little of this work required building permits, as these were required only where alterations were made; and alterations were carlied out principally by owners who ■were in a position to finance their work v without applying to. the Relief Committed for assistance. A competent , authority considers that the duplication between the value of building permits and the value of work done through the/Relief Committee was less than £5000, so'that, in arriving at an estimate of thVtbtkl value of building during the past' twelve months £120,500 may be added to tie 329,404 from permits. ; A further £9362 spent by the Public Works Department, . and the £30,000 which; the reinstatement of the Chief, Post Office is costing brings • the grand total to £489,266. ./. .■■ • ■;;■■" ;; MORE PLANS ANNOUNCED,! ' 1 Plans announced by the owners of various properties in the devastated area of Napier indicate; that the halfmilhon mark will be passed within a week or two. A'start has been made with the preliminary work connected , with, the construction of the new Central Hotel, £21,000, though no permit ltas yet been taken out; and the owners •t the site on which, stood the Masonic Hotel have intimated.that they intend to erect,a new honse, up-to-date in every, way, costing approximately £50,000. Plans for 28. more buildings, the. total cost of which will probably .exceed £150,000, have been completed. RESTORING PUBLIC SERVICES. The reinstatement and replacement , of damaged or destroyed buildings by no means constitute the, entire work of a reconstruetional nature in Napier during the year. Local bodies have spent enormous sums .in , effecting repairs and improvements, i ■ The restoration of the sewerage service to some hundreds of homes which were deprived of it is almost completed, and in another month the work of re-scheming the city's ■water supply should be completed. Advantage has been taken of the: opportunity to carry out extensive streetwidening proposals and other improvements, such as the beautification of the Marine parade and the splaying of all street corners in the business area by ten; feet, the ultimate cost of which is estimated, at £25,,000. : , COURAGE AND RESOURCE. Napier has not stood still: Its citi, zens haveadopted an attitude of courage and resource, and have succeeded in restoring their daily life to' a normal state.. Tuesday, 3rd February, is remembered not in a spirit of mourning. Church services held last Sunday and public services held to-day . were ' not ' xnimemoriam in character, but were services of thanksgiving: occasions for an expression of gratitude for the assistance so nobly given by other centres in the hour of emergency, and ±or the energy and enterprise which was left the citizen's to face the task of rebuilding their city.: • _ To-day is the occasion of a recognition of tho expression of sympathy and practical help so willingly rendered by all parts of New Zealand in Napier's hour of need. . Napier cannot forget the ungrudging response and the magnificent generosity with which the call for relief and assistance was answered.