St Ninian's of Avondale: Restoration in the Spring

As a friend gave me a lift home on Wednesday last, I noticed scaffolding at the old church building. Friday was the first opportunity I had to check things out.

Yes, indeed -- in the last days of the Auckland City Council, they are indeed getting on with restoring this, Avondale's oldest building.

I ended up having a bit of a chat with the foreman, who asked about the age of the building (1860), the cemetery (1873), and he advised that the roof over the front porch was down for replacement, the broken window was going to be good as before, and rotted timber on a sill was to be replaced with kauri to match the rest of the structure. I understand from what someone else has mentioned that the work is due to be completed in November.

And then, to my surprise and delight, I was invited in to have a quick peek inside -- the first time I'd been in the building for at least four years.

Top to bottom, they're getting the old paint off. That haze in these photos is all the dust in the air -- I wasn't there long, I can tell you. My thanks for the foreman for permission to take these photos.

Back outside ... the blue is the paint stripper applied to the timbers. They're working on roof leaks as well. All in all, the old lady of St Georges Road looks like she's getting the attention she deserves. I'll try to take more photos as work progresses.