The old Lake Alice water tower at 277 Lake Alice Rd which is for sale by owners Scott Phillips and Trudy Reeves. Photo / Bevan Conley
The old Lake Alice water tower at 277 Lake Alice Rd which is for sale by owners Scott Phillips and Trudy Reeves. Photo / Bevan Conley
The last surviving remnant of the Lake Alice psychiatric hospital is again up for sale, with the current owners targeting some high-profile prospective buyers.
The hospital closed in 1999 and was later demolished. A report presented to Parliament this week by the Abuse in Care Royal Commission into the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit said the use of electric shocks and painful paraldehyde injections to punish children at the hospital in the 1970s amounted to torture.
The three-storey tall tower and pump station are the last reminder of the facility’s presence, save for a footpath to nowhere on the approach to the tower.
In 2010 the tower was bought by a couple who told the Whanganui Chronicle they planned on turning it into a five-star eco-house.
It was sold again in 2017, getting about 40,000 views online and selling for about $20,000 more than the asking price of $99,000.
Current owners Scott Phillips and Trudy Reeves bought the tower because of the possibilities that came with owning it and their love for unique and unusual buildings.
“It’s a very visible landmark [and has] the most amazing view from the roof,” Phillips said.
To their knowledge, this is the only privately owned water tower in the country.
“How many times would you get to buy a water tower in your life,” Reeves said.
Originally, they planned to turn the tower into their home and use it as an Airbnb or a venue for Phillips’ wedding celebrant business.
“Some of the plans we had included a massive garage out here and big platform decks and a swimming pool, and then we’d build a garden out front, so lots of different things,” Phillips said.
He had wanted to use it for weddings because on the roof a couple getting married could be positioned to have Mt Taranaki over one shoulder and Mt Ruapehu over the other.
The inside of the water tower. Photo / Bevan Conley
As part of their planned renovation process, the couple uncovered some of the structure’s official documents, including the original blueprints and a tender document which came with an unexpected bonus.
“One of the tender documents from someone else had literally a note saying, attached to this is a £10 note. I don’t know if that was their attempt to bribe the person with the tender,” Phillips said.
They now want to sell the building to pay for renovations to another of their properties.
“We’re really gutted, this was my dream,” Phillips said.
The building is listed for sale at $150,000.
The couple said they had contacted the Abuse in Care Royal Commission to see if it wanted to purchase the building and turn it into a memorial for people who suffered abuse in the institution.
“I think ideally it would be good if the Royal Commission decided that they would purchase it on behalf of the families of the victims from Lake Alice,” Reeves said.
Another party they contacted was Peter Jackson via his production company, Wingnut Films.
“[We reached out] to say, hey Peter might like it because he has lots of other old buildings,” Phillips said.
They thought the tower’s proximity to Ōhakea Air Base would be of interest to Jackson but have not had a response from the filmmaker.
Otherwise, Reeves said the person to buy it could be another “lunatic” like them.
“It could be someone with a campervan that’s going to retire here and spend the next 10 years making it into their house on a low budget or it could be someone who just sold their house on the North Shore for millions and doesn’t care and just wants to go live in a paddock,” Phillips said.
