Springhill located next to Nelson Park runs a structured eight week residential environment course for motivated adults committed to overcoming addiction. Video Warren Buckland.
If the 106-year-old walls at Springhill in Napier could talk, what would they say?
Would they describe what they've seen in the 40 years since it became a residential addiction centre?
Or would they reminisce about the time that they helped babies have a comfortable entry into the world asthe Bethany Maternity Home?
Would they make wonder at the melody that filled the walls when the original owner, a music teacher, resided within?
Or would they tell a story, a piece of history not yet known about the wooden building?
The Hawke's Bay Addiction Centre Trust lease the premises to the Hawke's Bay District Health Board which has used it as an addiction and rehabilitation centre for nearly 40 years.
Trust Chairman Phil Ryan said they are wanting to "create an asset which will serve the people of Hawke's Bay for decades to come".
Ahead of the demolition, staff, trustees and a historian are looking back on the history of the facility at 42 Morris Street in Napier.
Historian and writer Elizabeth Pishief, who is planning a book on the history of the place, said that the area of land was reclaimed between 1900 and 1908.
By 1916 it was owned by school teacher, music teacher and father of seven Edward Varley Hudson. It was then home to various people before it was sold in 1942 to the Salvation Army.
In 1942 it became the new location of Bethany Maternity Home, then in 1980 it became Springhill Addiction Centre, which it remains today.
"During the time Bethany operated in Morris St over 6500 patients, many of them single mothers, passed through its doors," Pishief said.
GP Obstetrician David Robins undertook a number of deliveries in Bethany until it closed.
Once he had two patients in advanced labour – one in Bethany and one in the McHardy Home – luckily, they didn't deliver at the same but the hurried trip from McHardy to Bethany has stuck in his mind.
The second memorable delivery occurred on Robin's and his wife Catherine's 10th wedding anniversary when he had not been on call, babysitters had been arranged and the couple had dinner booked in town.
"We had just ordered pre-dinner drinks when a message arrived to report a patient in labour in Bethany, so I had to leave Catherine in the restaurant and make a dash.
"Happily, the patient, a doctor's wife, had a very rapid delivery, and I was able to return to a very pleasant anniversary dinner with our marriage intact."
The new 'vocational wing' in place of the old building is the final stage in a significant development. Image / Supplied
Tim Bevin is currently a senior medical advisor in mental health and addiction services and has been the attending doctor at Springhill since 1984. He also became a trustee in the '90s.
As a doctor the highlight for him has been seeing people succeed and start to do very well after they had been doing poorly, describing addiction as a "Cinderella service".
As a trustee, securing the future of the trust and going through each stage of the development have been highlights.
Throughout his time, the types of addiction and people who come through the centre has changed. When he first started, it was mainly middle-aged men with alcohol addictions.
Now, there is a wider range of people affected by various drugs, but alcohol remains the primary addiction people come for.
The people that have benefitted from the centre range from aged 18 to in their 70s and come from a range of professions and walks of life.
Bevin thinks that rehabilitation services are "crucial" in serving the community.
"For some people, rehab is 'make or break' for them."
The secret to Springhill's success is the "marriage" between the trust and the DHB, he says.
Trustee of 15 years Erica Toomey says it has been a "privilege" and "a lot of learning" to be part of the development of Springhill.
A moment that stands out for her is when a client told her that if it wasn't for the addiction centre, he'd be "in the gutter or dead".
While both are sad to see the building which "has its own charm," be demolished, the cost to fix it would have outweighed keeping it.
"Unfortunately, it is more problems than it is worth, even in the emotional sense," Bevin said.
"It'll be nice to have a new, comfortable and warm facility."
Demolition and re-build are planned to start in late October.
Providing there are level 1 Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time, the trust is also planning on having a community open day on October 4 from 1.30pm to 4 pm.
