Greenstone, water and computer for memorial

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 577, 14 March 1995, Page 3

Greenstone, water and computer for memorial

By

Michele

Monaghan

Work began last week laying greenstone tiles at Queen Elizabeth II Army Memorial Museum. The tiles will cover 42 square metres and will make up a memorial wall called 'Tears on Greenstone'. The wall will be officially opened and given a dawn blessing on 24 March. Tears on Greenstone will provide a place for people visiting the museum to pause and think of those who gave their lives for New Zealand. A continuous intonation .will speak the names of past servicemen and women, and computer technology will enable specific names to be played. 'Tears on Greenstone' will have a waterfall running over the greenstone to represent tears. A suitable text will be engraved in the greenstone next to the waterfall to acknowledge the sacrifice of those who are now gone. A touch-screen monitor will let visitors call up a specific name and have a certificate printed out with details of that person 's war service. Work on the wall started about a month ago, with six engineers from 2 Engineer Regiment, Linton Camp, building the circular structure. Project supervisor Staff Sergeant Graeme Wilson is based in Auckland and said the engineers had to overcome a series of problems to get this far. "It was extremely difficult to co-ordinate. I was the architect's eyes," said Mr Wilson.

He said the initial design for the wall was changed so they 'fast tracked' and designed as they went. A big problem was the tight work schedule created by the need to bring in ci vilian contractors to lay the greenstone and the floor. Consequently engineers have been working well in to the night to get the wall ready for the contractors. Another problem was the need for accuracy for the low tolerance levels, and three millimetres became the hot topic of conversation at one stage. The greenstone itself is being laid by Jos Wynands Limited from Lower Hutt. Jos Wynands (the boss) and two others stopped working on parliament to do the greenstone wall. Mr Wynands said on one hand it is something different to lay greenstone because it is what it is - greenstone, but on the other hand greenstone tiles are like laying any other tile. Plan change The greenstone comes from the rivers of the South Isfand and was processed in Haast. Mr Wynands said that there have been some discrepancies in the size of the greenstone and the laying plan has been changed three times. The work continues and so far all hurdles have been overcome. The original concept for the greenstone wall came from last year's interior design course students at the Central Institute of Technology in Wellington. This concept has

been made in to a detailed plan by Pepper Dixon Architects Limited, Auckland. The cost of Tears on Greenstone and the associated sound and computer system is

around $400 000, said museum director Major Richard Taylor. This money is not tax-payers money, the museum is funded by a trust board.