Over Easter, the New North Road/Blockhouse Bay Road intersection was closed down to through-traffic. Auckland City advised that pedestrians could maked it through all right, but as the Western rail line was shut down as well that weekend, and the bus routes which normally went through the intersection were diverted all over the place, I decided not to leave my home block at all. Apart from a brief dice with death on Monday evening to go to the local dairy on New Windsor Road ...
Anyway -- while contractors were removing free turns and adjusting crossings at the intersection, the signal box was changed as well, so the mural (seen here, and posted on the blog originally here) has gone, replaced by greeny-blue metal.
I hear that there are moves underway to start the process of replacing it, but these things take time -- and next year could be a whole new ball game with the Super City. Heritage-wise, this was not a huge thing; it was in the wrong place as far as celebrating the Avondale Volunteer Brigade was concerned, and always seemed more American than Antipodean in style, but -- it was attractive, and helped break up the cement around it, and the tussocky landscaping which replaced the lawn on the Baptist Church site behind it.
They could always just borrow the Oakley Creek image from Mt Albert -- the creek's only just a few yards away, down the hill to the New North Road bridge ...
Update: they won't be replaced, after all.
Anyway -- while contractors were removing free turns and adjusting crossings at the intersection, the signal box was changed as well, so the mural (seen here, and posted on the blog originally here) has gone, replaced by greeny-blue metal.
I hear that there are moves underway to start the process of replacing it, but these things take time -- and next year could be a whole new ball game with the Super City. Heritage-wise, this was not a huge thing; it was in the wrong place as far as celebrating the Avondale Volunteer Brigade was concerned, and always seemed more American than Antipodean in style, but -- it was attractive, and helped break up the cement around it, and the tussocky landscaping which replaced the lawn on the Baptist Church site behind it.
They could always just borrow the Oakley Creek image from Mt Albert -- the creek's only just a few yards away, down the hill to the New North Road bridge ...
Update: they won't be replaced, after all.
What a shame they removed it nice mural. Hope they replace it...
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