Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Napier War Memorial concept drawings released

Concept drawings for the restoration of Napier War Memorial will be unveiled to the community at a meeting on March 22.

Features of the design concept include a curved wall displaying the Roll of Honour, Eternal Flame, a water feature, seating space, remembrance artwork, and landscaping complementing and uniting the building with the Memorial elements.

Architect of the original War Memorial Hall on Marine Parade, the late Guy Natusch, was an advisor to the memorial’s reference group until his passing five months ago.

He requested heritage architects be a part of the design team and endorsed the appointment of architects James Blackburne and Jeremy Salmond to provide heritage advice and guidance to the Reference Group, which comprised representatives of the community, Heritage Places, the defense force and the Napier and Taradale Returned Services Associations.

“I made a commitment to Guy Natusch that the restoration of our War Memorial would be something he could be proud of, something that paid homage to his original design from 1957,” said Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise.

“The community has waited long enough for this project to come to fruition, so we will be working as quickly as we can to see it completed.”

Following the formal adoption, detailed drawings will be produced and costs for the project will be finalised.

The heritage architects’ guidance for the restoration project is that it should be based on the original design philosophy of Mr Natusch and include as much of the original fabric of the design as possible.

As such, the design concept includes both the original Roll of Honour plaques and Eternal Flame, which are current stored at the Council City Services depot. The concept, including the placement of these elements, is very much reminiscent of the original 1957 design.

Alongside the development of the design concept Council took the opportunity to review the Roll and made a series of recommendations to the Reference Group, including that an electronic version would be incorporated into the design, allowing for additional information such as stories, photos or letters to be part of a digital archive.

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