Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Molly McAllister and her Warrior.
Next month will mark five years of this blog's existence. Sometimes I wonder why I bother, then I get feedback like this...


George Farrant has left a new comment on your post "Pet Rock (Dec 9 2003 - on the Maori Warrior down in QEII Square, now called Britomart)...


"I've only just seen this post, so sorry for the late comment.

There is an interesting story behind the 'Warrior' relocation.

In about 1967 I worked as a student architect for John Goldwater, the architect of the 'new' Auckland Synsgogue in Greys Avenue, supervising construction of the new building.

Molly McAllister was commissioned to craft the carved Hinuera stone Ark of the Covenant in the main synagogue, and I spent a couple of weeks at the Waikato Hinuera quarry helping to carve the mass of stone relief slabs - we took a third each, to Molly's detailed design, once she was confident that we wouldn't wreck the work.

During that lovely experience she related her great disappointment earlier at the then city council insisting that, having commissioned the 'Warrior' sculpture, they would regardless of her wishes mount it on a traditional pedestal on a narrow traffic median strip in the middle of Queen Street outside the Central Post Office.

I could only listen in sympathy.

Fast forward to 2003, when my role as Chief Heritage Advisor to the council gave me the decision as to where and how 'Warrior' should be placed in the revised layout of the square in front of the new Britomart underground station... well, there was only one answer, and it gave me huge satisfaction to instruct that the marble pedestal vanish (maybe it made a great bathroom floor or garden path), and the statue be relocated in the manner Molly related at the time - at ground level amongst the people - we even sank the bronze base into the paving - facing arrivals from the water, with his gaze turned gently toward Rangitoto Island, the more distant Hauraki Gulf, and ancestral Hawiiki.

Her husband George Hayden was alive at the time and was very appreciative of this belated compensation. It gave me great satisfaction as well."

Thanks, George.

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