Cambridge Museum is encased in plastic while seismic strengthening continues. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Refurbishing old buildings can sometimes come with surprises and that is what has happened at the historic Cambridge Court House, now home to the Cambridge Museum.
Dave Varcoe
Waipā District Council property manager David Varcoe said while the planned $400,000 seismic strengthening work is going well, when the roof iron was lifted, contractors found structural details not shown on the drawings.
“This was not entirely unexpected for a building of this age, and there were some building elements that could not be seen until the roof was lifted,” said Varcoe.
“We anticipated this (would) likely be the case and the contract allowed for some contingency, so this was not a concern.”
Technical School and Court House, Cambridge, circa 1911. Photograph taken by Frederick George Radcliffe. Photo: Alexander Turnbull National Library of New Zealand.
The Category Two listed heritage building is another Fred Potts special, built in 1909 for £1100.
It has a Neo-Classic facade with ornate Ionic capitals on the columns at the entrance and the royal ‘ER’ emblem on the pediment. Inside are kauri ceilings, varnished rimu dados and tiled fireplaces.
Potts, a builder and contractor, was the “chippie of choice” for Cambridge dignitaries at the turn of the 20th century.
His portfolio included the Cambridge Club, BNZ and legal chambers. In partnership with George Hardy, they built the Rangiriri Hotel, Hamilton Courthouse, churches at Paterangi, Waihi and Hamilton and dairy factories/creameries at Frankton, Roto-O-Rangi, Hautapu and Tamahere as well as several shops.
The Court House closed in October 1979; one of 24 smaller court houses shut down by then Justice Minister Jim McLay on the recommendation of a Royal Commission on the Courts.
It was bought by the then Cambridge Borough Council and occupied by Cambridge Museum since 1984.
It is now owned by Waipā District Council and is one of several buildings in the district which requires seismic work to bring it up to 50 percent of the National Building Standard. The building is currently set at 25 percent.
Courthouse, Cambridge, New Zealand, 1909, Cambridge, by Muir & Moodie. Purchased 1998 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa (PS.001028)
The work includes new gutters, a new roof covering plus timber reinforcement to the internal trusses, reinforcement to the brick chimneys.
The parapet and gable end on the façade will be braced to the timber roof structure, all while ensuring the historical exterior of the building is maintained.
Varcoe said the roof issue added some extra weeks to the project but since then the work has gone well “despite some challenges with the weather.”
The building is now wrapped in plastic to waterproof it and ensure no rain gets into the interior while the work is being done.
“Strong winds made the wrapping a bit challenging but that’s all sorted now. We’ll be doing some additional painting around the gutters and facades while the scaffolding is up.”
The scaffolding is expected to be taken down next week.
“And that’s the job largely done,” said Varcoe.
The building is listed as category two historic building by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, which states the exterior appearance must be maintained in its original state.
During the strengthening works, the museum team continued to care for the collection, designed new displays and planned activities and events.
The next event in the Cambridge History Talk Series is a deep dive into the archives at Hamilton City Libraries in Garden Place with archivist Rowan Millar next week.
Cambridge Museum is encased in plastic while seismic strengthening continues.
