Dialogue: Plenty of life left yet in city's landmark prison

The Corrections Minister, Matt Robson, has reopened the search for sites in South Auckland for prisons to be opened by 2003, and is calling on the affected communities to put aside selfish concerns in the national interest.

For Mt Eden Prison, this means "a case of not if, but when" it closes, according to the minister. Mr Robson believes that although the prison stands on prime real estate, its heritage status will have to be taken into account when it is shut.

Others have proposed that when the prison closes, it should be demolished. These people no doubt seek to destroy Mt Eden because of its dark history. By flattening it, perhaps they believe they will purge what has gone on there. The prison has become notorious because of its conditions and the deaths and suicides that have occurred there.

Interestingly, its design, based on a punitive philosophy, was considered out of date from the moment it was completed in its final form in 1917. Despite the criticisms, Mt Eden has remained Auckland's main prison for 140 years. Destroying the building will not erase the many tragedies that occurred there. Instead, we should look to preserve the prison so it can serve as both a lesson and source of history for the next generation.

Like it or not, Mt Eden Prison is one of Auckland's most distinctive and best-known historic landmarks. Built in the Gothic Victorian style, it is the nearest thing we have to a medieval castle. The exterior also provides the region's finest example of a bluestone masonry structure.

The building has a long history. It has the potential, if preserved and adapted for reuse, to enhance public understanding of New Zealand's penal system. It has, after all, been one of the main focal points for the concepts of justice, punishment and rehabilitation in the Auckland region since the 1850s.

It was built on the site of an earlier wooden prison stockade and designed in the 1880s by the Colonial Architect, Pierre Burrows, in such a way that more wings could be built as required.

The stone walls were built first, in 1872. The construction of the present prison began by using prison labour. New wings were added in 1893, 1905, 1906, 1913 and 1917. In 1965, a prison riot burned out the prison and destroyed the chapel and some of its towers. However, the exterior of the building and its impressive walls are still in excellent original condition.

Mt Eden Prison is registered as a Category 1 structure and cited as being of outstanding historical cultural significance in the Historic Places Trust register, and its exterior is scheduled for protection in the city's district plan. While it is certainly a forbidding structure, it is impressive, architecturally and historically significant and unique in the Auckland region.

Overseas, there are some fine examples of prisons being turned into tourist centres. The Tower of London and Alcatraz are two of the best known. Alcatraz Island is one of San Francisco's most popular tourist destinations, offering a close-up look at a historic and infamous federal prison long off-limits to the public. The Tower of London is one of Britain's most popular travel destinations. Parramatta Prison in Sydney has also been preserved for its historical and architectural significance.

In Lucerne, Switzerland, a prison is being turned into a hotel for budget-conscious travellers and in the United States the Andersonville national historic site serves as a memorial to American prisoners of war.

There are many instances today of former prisons being opened to the public for their historic value. The Auckland Regional Council has a duty to promote the preservation and protection of a diverse and representative range of the region's cultural heritage resources.

Mt Eden Prison is worthy of being preserved as a historic landmark of major symbolic importance and adapted for reuse for the benefit of future generations.

* Philip Warren is chairman of the Auckland Regional Council.