1850s pub may be saved from demolition ball

By PHILIP ENGLISH

A former Auckland corner hotel dating to before 1860 and due to be replaced with an apartment block may be saved.

The future of the Fitzroy Hotel in Wakefield St, one of Auckland's oldest buildings in one of the city's oldest streets, is uncertain.

But if the Auckland City Council schedules it a heritage building to give it a degree of protection, the old Fitzroy pub could one day reopen.

The council has been considering a resource consent to demolish the building without public notification. Even neighbours were not told. The demolition would allow the construction of the block of 65 apartments.

But Allan Matson, an Auckland heritage campaigner, has requested a scheduling of the building, and the city development committee has voted to initiate the process. If approved, any demolition application would have to be publicly notified.

Mr Matson describes the Fitzroy as not grand like other Auckland corner pubs, but "unique in its simplicity". He says it dates back to 1857 and was once owned by Richard Seccombe, the brewer whose company merged with another brewery to create the forerunner of Lion Breweries.

The brick and plaster building has been vacant for about a month and not used as a pub for about a century. It fell victim to a city abstinence campaign.

The owner behind the Golden City Apartments proposal is said to be unimpressed with the committee's approach.

Mr Matson said the building's predicament was symptomatic of the way the city council dealt with heritage buildings.

"Aucklanders and their council should take better care of what is left to pass on to future generations. Today's greed is tomorrow's poverty."

* Mr Matson can be contacted by email.