Titirangi residents will be aware that there is major work happening at Lopdell House.

The building itself is being gutted and a new steel frame constructed so that the building will be more stable in an earthquake. The building is also being pinned into the ground by concrete anchors being drilled into the ground.

Recent events in Wellington and not so recent events in Christchurch show how vital this work is.  If a modest quake was to occur in Auckland then Lopdell House may be no more.  It is of a conventional for the time of construction concrete construction with little if any reinforcement.

A new gallery is being constructed right next door and some rather dramatic groundwork is occurring.  The new gallery will be fit for purpose and able to house and protect art in a way that Lopdell House was never able to.

There will also be a completely refurbished theater in the basement one that will be a dramatic improvement on the original theatre.

The projects are worth in the vicinity of $19 million.  Major funders are Auckland Council, Portage Trust through the Trusts Charitable Foundation and the Lotteries Foundation.  Pretty well all of the money has been raised although a small amount of fundraising is still required.

I had the chance to visit the site recently and I thought that I would post some photographs..  They are taken with my Iphone so the quality is OK only.

This is a photo of the ground floor.  The steel is being used in the construction of a cage which will add strength to the building.

These are pictures of the first floor.

This is the top floor.  Work is being done on making the floor waterproof.  Eventually the floor will be removed and the top of the building will be open.  A 1.2 meter perspex border will go around the outside to provide safety.

This is the stairwell.

Henry Atkinson continues to supervise everything.

The work is going well.  The roof should be ready for use by December this year and the projects should be completed by March of next year.  Then Titirangi