Treading path of bygone days

Charlie Gilberd, 3, and his mother, Jo, step out on the newly opened University of Auckland heritage trail. Picture / Greg Bowker

Like many young boys, Charlie Gilberd is more interested in big diggers forging ahead on new construction than in relics of Auckland's past.

But a heritage trail that Auckland University's business school opened and "gifted" to the city at the weekend has something for everyone, from the 158-year-old stone wall of the Albert military barracks to the construction site of the school's new $110 million home.

Charlie, 3, seemed happy enough to don Edwardian-era costume with his parents, Jo and Paul Gilberd, for the opening ceremony and a walk past a clutch of some of Auckland's most splendid historical buildings.

His grandfather, retired Anglican Bishop of Auckland Bruce Gilberd, blessed the trail before Deputy Mayor Bruce Hucker accepted it on behalf of Auckland City as a gift to mark the business school's centennial year.

Paul Gilberd, the school's development manager, said his son loved playing round Old Government House, though it was "one of the grand old dames of Auckland's heritage which needs a new dress".

But Charlie's excitement peaked at the last feature in a catalogue of 30 heritage sites - the business school's embryonic Owen G. Glenn building, which will grow to 28,000sq m on seven storeys above Grafton Rd between now and its 2007 target completion date.

Professor Barry Spicer, dean of the school, said yesterday that business was integral to Auckland's history and developing the heritage trail was an entirely appropriate project to complement the onward march of progress.

"We always look to the future, but the history project has captured knowledge of some of the old stories which were key contributors to Auckland's economy," he said.

"It gives a sense of connection between past and present, to educate and help to inspire future generations."

Most but not all of the sites are on university land, including the merchant houses in Princes St that formed the dress row of Victorian Auckland.

Professor Spicer said researchers had also found that the new business school was being built on the 19th-century Phoenix iron foundry, once Auckland's largest employer.

Mr Gilberd said a course on business and economic history would be added to the school's curriculum next year, using examples from the development of local industries as case studies.

The school's interaction with local industry had led to a highly successful fundraising drive for the new building, to which $58 million had been contributed towards a target of $75 million. This includes $25 million from the Government and $7.5 million from a single benefactor, logistics and freight-forwarding magnate Owen Glenn.

The new building, named after Mr Glenn, is part of a wider $110 million-plus project to develop the business school, for which the university will pay the balance above $75 million.

* Colour brochures of the heritage trail can be obtained from University House, at 19A Princes St, or from Tourism Auckland.