Beresford Square works have begun

January has been a busy month for Karangahape Station with work in Beresford Square – where one of the station’s entrances will be located – beginning in earnest on 6th January.

Beresford Square has rapidly changed shape with the removal of trees and the Information Hub building, both of which were within the construction footprint for the new station.

Wood from the trees has been gratefully received by local woodworkers, including Cross Street’s The Warren. The old Information Hub, on the other hand, is destined to take a much longer journey – 2,500 kilometres away to a remote corner of the Pacific.

The Hub is being salvaged by Rob Roughan, the original designer and builder of the structure in 1995. Roughan, of Niuean heritage, intends to reassemble it as a café on a vanilla plantation in Niue that he is developing to help promote the island’s tourism. 

Dale Burtenshaw, deputy project director for the Link Alliance - which is building the main section of tunnels and stations for City Rail Link Ltd - described the outcome as a win-win for everyone. “A well-known destination in the K Road area is preserved and gets a new life, and we remain on track with our construction programme,” he said.   

Over the years, the building has been used for cafes and wine bars and finally as an Information Hub to inform Aucklanders about the future benefits the CRL project.

Saving the Beresford Square building is part of an active sustainability policy adopted by the Link Alliance. Last year, material salvaged from buildings being demolished at the CRL site in Mt Eden was shipped to Tonga for reuse, and an historic 19th century kauri cottage was safely trucked to a heritage site in Waikato. 

For further information on the construction progress for Karangahape Station see its dedicated web page or sign up to the station’s monthly newsletter here. Demolition is continuing in Mercury Lane.