Meanwhile, in Hastings....

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

from Hawke's Bay Today....

It's farewell to grand old Albert

EDITORIAL - Mark Story | 8:46AM - Tuesday, December 23, 2014


ALMOST DOWN: The grand old Albert is no more.

THE corner of Karamu Road and Heretaunga Street now boasts more sky.

What was the two-storey Hastings landmark known as the Albert Hotel is gone but for the grace of a few stoic native timber frames and a ribcage of weatherboard.

I once referred to it as a “grand old lady” but was told off by a reader as “Albert” is a male name. Quite right.

So who was Albert?

Its builder and first proprietor, William Dennett, an Australian immigrant, assumedly came up with its designation. Most likely it was a nod to Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert, who died in 1861 — 21 years before his namesake pub was built. The verandah's Union Jack infill balustrade also suggests the hotel was indeed one of a long line of New Zealand pubs with royal signatures.

Right now the CBD corner is cordoned off and resembles a requiem point.

People stop and stare as an iron tyrannosaurus chews through the rubble.

There's no right-minded individual who thinks it shouldn't come down. But equally, there's no right-minded individual who thinks we were right, in the preceding decades, to ignore the grand old chap's insidious decay. Its cultural significance and heritage value was rich long before its 1982 centenary.

One can't help but wonder what the fate would have been if this hotel was Art Deco in style and situated on a prominent Napier corner. The municipal salvage would have been, I imagine, unequivocally swift.

But a post mortem is futile.

Besides, despite working just down the road for the better part of a decade, I failed to step inside. Not once. Not a single pint. Idiot.

The mantle has been passed and the question arises — which now, is the city's newest oldest building?

• Mark Story is deputy editor at Hawke's Bay Today.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11378257

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

I only ever had a couple of drinks at the Albert, from memory it was the pub that opened early and on Sundays (although on Sundays you had to use the back door ) But it has become a mouldering eyesore, will be good to see it gone. I'm still undecided on how I feel about a 'container mall' tho.

After six o'clock closing ended and most pubs in NZ went to opening at 11am and closing at 10pm, the Albert Hotel in Hastings opened two hours early at 9am and closed at 8pm. It was the pub in Hastings that wasn't too fussy about the legal drinking age. I can remember going into the bottle store on the Heretaunga Street frontage in my Karamu High School uniform on several occasions and asking for half-a-dozen bottles of DB (they used to sell half-dozens in cardboard boxes), and on each occasion, the barman in the bottlestore walked to the front door and looked up and down the street to make sure there were no policemen walking the beat nearby, then served me. After I left school and started work, the Albert was the first pub where I actually drank in the bar. The legal drinking age had been reduced to 20 years of age from the previous 21 when six o'clock closing ended on 9th October 1967, so I was definitely underage at 16, almost 17. However, I had started work at a place where all my workmates headed off to either the Mayfair Hotel or the Albert Hotel (naturally in the public bar) after work, so I went with them. Because the Mayfair was a lot stricter on underage drinkers, my workmates took me to the Albert where none of the staff were too concerned about underage drinkers in the bar. So for a few years, the Albert was the place where I had a few beers after work.

In later years, the Albert Hotel's public bar became a hangout of the Mongrel Mob in Hastings and it got a lot rougher. Eventually the hotel became a boarding house, until its closure was forced when Hastings District Council building inspectors decided it had become an earthquake risk.

I'm kinda sorry to see the old hotel get knocked down. It was the oldest building in Hastings and was always there as part of the downtown scene from my earliest memories of growing up in Hastings. I can remember the annual Blossom Festival Parade each year when hoardes of people would be watching the parade from the balcony of the Albert. It was also outside the Albert where the Battle of Hastings took place in 1960 after the parade was postponed due to rain. Crowds of people who had travelled from Wellington on the overnight excursion trains headed for the Albert Hotel and the Carlton Club Hotel across the road; and eventually started brawling in the street. The police called out the Hastings fire brigade, who turned their high-pressure hoses on the rioters. I was 6½-years-old when that happened, and I can still clearly remember it, with the Albert Hotel as the backdrop.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

from Hawke's Bay Today....

History gone as hotel razed

By SAM HURLEY | 12 NOON - Sunday, December 28, 2014


GONE: The last remnants of the Albert Hotel was demolished on Saturday.

THE old boy has finally come down — the Albert Hotel's aged facade disappeared bit by bit during the past few weeks.

The Hastings landmark, vacant for the past four years, had been slowly decaying after being deemed dangerous by the council in 2009.

The current owner, Michael Whittaker, bought the property in November, 2012, and in July, 2013, North Peak Properties was granted council approval to demolish the building.

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said he had stepped inside the building only once but added there was some discussion about trying to save the old building.

“We asked a lot of people if they were able to redevelop it.”

He said old hotels in the southern Wairarapa towns of Martinborough, Greytown, Featherston and Carterton were an inspiration of how a more than 100-year-old building could be saved and reinvented as a restaurant and pub.

“It was just too far gone,” Mr Yule said of the Albert Hotel. “Nobody could could make it work.”

He said what Mr Whittaker planned for the site is an “innovative way of filling the space”.

The site is expected to be cleared by the middle of next month. Once it is cleared, a two-level container development will be built on the site with up to 16 spaces for lease, modelled on Christchurch's successful Re:START container mall.

The Albert Hotel, built in 1882 by William Dennett, an Australian immigrant who became mayor of Hastings, was the city's oldest central building.

The two-storey wooden structure withstood the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake and was given category two protection by Heritage New Zealand because of its cultural and aesthetic value.

It is understood the oldest building in Hastings city now is the nave of St Matthew's church, built in 1886.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11379637

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Opening day in 1931....

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Dominion Post....

Hawke's Bay Opera House strengthening a costly affair

By MARTY SHARPE | 1:00PM - Thursday, 19 February 2015


Hawke's Bay Opera House in 2006 during its upgrade, which began in 2004 and completed in 2007
at a cost of $13.5 million. It remains at just 17 percent of current national building standards.

BRINGING the Hawke's Bay Opera House up to strength is going to cost a lot more than the $13.6 million spent on its upgrade just seven years ago, a new report has found.

The 100-year-old opera house and the adjacent Hastings Municipal Building in central Hastings were closed in March last year after an engineer's report found the 12-metre side walls of the theatre could collapse on an audience during an earthquake.

The opera house is just 17 percent of the national building standard, well short of the minimum requirement of 34 percent. The strength of the Municipal Hall is unknown, but it is at most 34 percent up to code.

A Hastings District Council commissioned report today reveals it would cost between $14.2m and $17.8m to bring the buildings up to 70-75 percent of standard.

The report, by Holmes Consulting Group, presents cheaper options of $10.7m-13.2m to meet 35 percent of standard and $17.8m-21.7m to meet 100 percent, but Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said neither option was appealing and the true cost was likely to be be around $15m.

But even that figure could be conservative, with the report highlighting nine separate risks around the final cost. These include new fire safety requirements that would need to be met, the completion of a detailed geotechnical report on foundations, costs associated with any archeological finds, and potential discovery that the existing structure is significantly different from what has been assumed to date.

Yule said the council would meet with Holmes engineers and peer reviewers next Thursday.

“Clearly we are going to have to rethink a number of projects and we will need to talk to our community. We need further peer review work done, and we will need the detailed geotech work completed. There is going to be a six to nine month decision making process.”

“I don't think anyone would think it was sensible to go for the minimum requirement, and the 100 percent option would appear to be cost prohibitive. I would say we're looking at somewhere around $15m,” he said.

The report recommends ruling out the minimum requirement, noting that the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineers recommends buildings should meet at least 67 percent.

It recommends further investigation of bringing the buildings up to 70-75 percent or 100 percent.

At council's request the report considered a “low damage or property protection strengthening scheme” that would not only meet safety requirements but would also protect the buildings' fabric through the installation of rubber base isolators.

But the cost of this for both buildings was estimated to be $29m-33m, which the report felt was likely to be cost-prohibitive.

A report on the buildings last year found the work carried out during the 2004-07 upgrade was acceptable at the time and  there was little justification for the council to pursue damages because the level of negligence was minimal.

Fifteen staff lost their jobs when Hawke's Bay Opera House board ceased to trade last June.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/hawkes-bay/66382344/Hawkes-Bay-Opera-House-strengthening-a-costly-affair

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Hahaha.....this will get all the moaners & whingers in Napier going about how their three-story police station is being replaced with a single-story police station, whereas Hastings is getting a replacement three-story police station plus the District Headquarters is moving from Napier to Hastings.

No doubt the moaners will be those same Napier people who squealed & whinged when the Regional Hospital got sited in Hastings.


from The Dominion Post....

New police stations for Hawke's Bay

By MARTY SHARPE | 5:03PM - Wednesday, July 15, 2015


Hastings police station is to be demolished. — Photo: John Cowpland/Fairfax NZ.

THE police stations in Napier and Hastings are to be demolished and replaced with new ones.

Eastern District commander superintendent Sandra Venables on Wednesday announced that new buildings would be built alongside the current ones early next year.

The old stations will be demolished when the new ones are built.

The cell block at the Hastings station was presently being renovated and all arrests in Napier or Hastings will be held in this new block.

“Instead of having two custodial facilities operating within 20km of each other that require two lots of staffing, it makes better sense to have one facility so that we can deploy more staff out on the streets,” Ms Venables said.

This will increase prisoner capacity and safety, provide a safer working environment for staff and will enable staff to be more effectively deployed to meet priority demands, she said.


Napier Police Station will be demolished and replaced with a one-storey building.
 — Neill Gordon/Fairfax NZ.

Design plans are currently being developed for both new stations. A business case with concept plans has been submitted for final approval.

Venables said the new stations would be a major project for Police.

“I'm very pleased to be able to announce this project. The current stations date back to the 1960s and do not suit the needs of a modern police service. Our staff especially will be very pleased to be able to work in modern facilities that will be purpose-built for our needs,” she said.

The Napier station will be single level and will house community police, youth staff, CIB and public safety teams. The Hastings station will be three levels and will incorporate Eastern District Headquarters.

Venables said Eastern District Headquarters staff would vacate Dalton House in Napier by September as the lease on that building had expired. The 89 staff from there would move into the Napier and Hastings stations until the new stations are completed. Some work groups from the main stations would be moved out to community stations in Havelock North, Taradale and Clive while the building project is underway.

“There will be some significant staff movements around the area to accommodate the new project and we are trying very hard to minimise the impact on staff and the public. We are looking forward to the end result which will provide much better work environments for everyone.”

Final staff numbers for each station had not been determined yet.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/70264277/new-police-stations-for-hawkes-bay

[reality]

Gloombusters: Fruit exports surge

5:00 AM Tuesday Aug 4, 2015

Demand for premium kiwifruit, apples and avocados helps counter weakness in dairy and forest products.

New Zealand fruit trade has become a heavy hitter as an export, helping to at least partly offset weakness in the dairy and forest products sectors.

Data out from Statistics NZ showed the value of fruit exports reached an all time high of $2 billion in the year to June, up almost 20 per cent from a year earlier. Wine was another strong performer, up 7.3 per cent to $1.4 billion in the June year.

The performance of fruit and wine wasn't enough to offset downturns in other parts of the primary sector - dairy exports were down by 24 per cent to $12 billion and log exports were down 11.3 per cent at $3.56 billion - but the data showed the downturn was not universal.

Both higher prices and a greater quantity of fruit exports - up 9 per cent - contributed to the overall rise, Statistics NZ said.

Kiwifruit and apples led the monthly increases, with exports in May 2015 being the highest value recorded for both kiwifruit ($280 million) and apples ($157 million).


Statistics NZ said kiwifruit was responsible for 59 per cent of fruit exports, followed by apples (28 per cent), and avocados (5.7 per cent).

"If you could find another export industry that is growing at even a fraction of the rate of those three, then you would be lucky," said Gary Jones, Business Development Manager at Pipfruit NZ. In the Hawkes Bay alone, apple exports are projected to hit $500 million in 2017 from $200 million in 2010, he said.

Agricultural analysts are bullish about kiwifruit as the sector continues to recover from the devastation caused by the Psa virus since its outbreak in 2010.

ANZ, in an analysis of the sector, said New Zealand kiwifruit sector typified many aspects of true "value-add" leading the way in producing and selling a premium offering.

"Despite the challenges posed by Psa, the industry is in good heart appearing to have navigated the worst of its impacts," ANZ said.

Kiwifruit had a strong 2014/15 season with increased volumes and good grower returns.

Zespri chairman Peter McBride told grower-shareholders at the annual meeting that Zespri had delivered $1.57 billion of sales in the 2014/15 season, up 16 per cent on the previous year.

Volumes of New Zealand kiwifruit sales are up 11 per cent to 95.2 million trays this season and set to grow to over 130 million trays in the next five years.

The apple sector is going from strength to strength with new plantings, by area, increasing by 5 per cent a year. NZX-listed Scales Corp - the country's largest grower, packer and marketer of apples - said its export grade apple volumes were about 13 per cent ahead of prospectus forecasts.

The higher percentage of both premium apples and percentage of sales to Asia and "near" markets is expected to result in a higher average price per carton than prospectus forecast, said managing director Andy Borland.

"In addition, apple selling prices and quality have held up well in many of our export markets."

Peter McBride said Zespri sales were up 16 per cent on the previous year. Photo / Alan Gibson
Peter McBride said Zespri sales were up 16 per cent on the previous year. Photo / Alan Gibson

Avocado, the country's third-largest fruit export, faces a rosy future as consumers worldwide focus more on healthier food choices. The season, which goes from August to February, was a strong one but production tends to be lumpy. Last year a record 4.5 million trays were produced with about 2.8 million trays being exported through Avoco. This year, the sector expects to produce about 2.8 million trays in total.

"This year we will have a light crop but will have exceptional prices," Avoco director John Carroll said. "It's not just about supply, it's about demand growth. The real growth in demand keeps steaming along at a staggering rate," Carroll said.

For supermarkets worldwide, avocado had become a "darling product" for promotions.

" ... we have the advantage of being on the doorstep of an exceptionally strong market - Australia - and the doorstep of a potentially bigger market - Asia, in the years ahead."

The nurseries that grow seedlings for avocado orchards are booked out for the next two to three years.

- NZ Herald

[Alicat]

Former English rugby rose becomes Cranford Hospice chief executive

A game of rugby and a bucket of shellfish in 1994 left a lasting impression on former England women's rugby player Janice Byford-Jones.

This month the experienced nurse and former England prop became the chief executive of Cranford Hospice in Hastings, 20 years after she first visited the region.

She travelled to New Zealand as part of a tour with her club Saracens in 1994.

Janice Byford-Jones took over as the new chief executive of Cranford Hospice in Hastings this month.

They arrived in Clive late one evening after a long day of travelling and waited at the town's rugby club to be billeted to host families.

"They brought us a light snack – I remember it was a bucket of mussels and a slab of beer."

She returned again in 1997 as part of an English tour. The country's geography and open spaces struck her after growing up in Ilford, in northeast London.

After high school, she worked for Sotheby's auction house, before studying nursing.

During an orientation week event she met a group of girls dressed in rugby uniforms. It was a game she didn't know, having grown up in a football-obsessed neighbourhood.

"I was 21 when I picked up a rugby ball, and fell in love with the game."

After a few years of nursing, she left to train fulltime for a year after receiving a lottery grant.

"I had made the lower rungs of the national side, but I missed out on the World Cup team. When the next four years came around, I was getting older and I knew if I was going to make the team I probably only had one more shot," she said.

"Rugby had become professional for men, and women had expectations of adopting similar training and eating regimes, but we were also trying to hold down jobs."

She was a prop in the 1998 World Cup team that came third after being knocked out in the semifinals by the Black Ferns.

As her rugby career came to an end, her brother became sick and she nursed him until his death.

Afterwards, she returned to New Zealand for a six-month visit – which never ended.

She worked for the Nursing Council, and for Wairarapa and Capital & Coast district health boards.

Her aim at Cranford is to provide the best and most appropriate care for patients and their families.

"We want to ensure a good life right to the end."



http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/74364281/former-english-rugby-rose-becomes-cranford-hospice-chief-executive.html

[Alicat]

I hope the appointment of this new Chief Exec can really turn around Cranford Hospice. They went through some rather bitter management challenges a number of years back. Dad spend a few times in Cranford when terminally ill back in 2011. The Hospice Nurses who visited Dad at home with lovely but when Dad really needed the Hospice they were unable to take him. Communication was very poor at the time and afterwards, Mum and I felt that they had let Dad down when he really needed them.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

from Hawke's Bay Today....

Historic Hawke's Bay ice-cream business Rush Munro's turning 90

By ROGER MORONEY | 5:00AM - Sunday, October 30, 2016


Still going strong: Paul Jones (left) David Keys and Lloyd Singleton have been regulars
at Rush Munro's ice-cream garden for 70 years.

NINETY YEARS AGO an Englishman by the name of Frederick Charles Rush Munro started something cool.

Very cool.

Almost frozen in fact.

He arrived in Hawke's Bay with his wife Catherine in 1926, and using the skills he had been taught by his father, who was a confectioner, he set up shop in central Hastings and began to serve his hand-made and very special ice creams.

They originally set up in the central area but then decided to move to a new spot in Heretaunga Street West — which is where his name, and his ice creams, continue to delight the generations who also enjoy the picturesque garden settings for their tasty outings.

Rush Munro's has always been privately owned and is the longest running ice cream manufacturer in New Zealand.

For the present owners and crew hitting the 90th birthday mark is reason to raise a cone or two and for the next three weeks there will be a series of celebratory events for people to scoop up.

It will all lead up to the big day itself — November 19th — when the special Garden Parlour Party to celebrate the 90 years of tasty trading will be staged, with the ladies all dressing in outfits from that time and discounted ice creams on the menu.

Current and former staff will all take part.

Among the events being lined up is a very appropriate one centred around the 90 mark.

For one week coming up those folk aged 90 or more will enjoy free treats, and it is understood several rest homes are already organising outings to Rush Munro's during that time.

Keeping with the 90s touch Rush Munro's will also give away an estimated 90kg of ice cream as well as run a competition where Hawke's Bay residents can create their 90 Year Birthday Flavour.

It will be unveiled and put on sale at the November 19th party.

There will also be 90 cent discounts on ice creams.

Rush Munro's general manager Tom O'Sullivan said the celebration would be an exciting time in Rush Munro's history.

“Most people who were raised and live in Hawke's Bay have fond memories of the iconic Rush Munro's Parlour with the fish ponds and gardens,” he said.

“We welcome people to share their stories and get excited about an ice cream that represents everything Hawke's Bay.”

The business has always been privately owned and had two other owners, John Caulton and Alastair McSporran, before local grower and exporter John Bostock bought the business in 2001.

Over the last decade John Bostock had successfully spread Rush Munro's ice cream throughout the country into supermarkets, cafes, restaurants and ice-cream parlours and has played a major role in growing the iconic Rush Munro's brand.

“We are very proud of Rush Munro's history,” Mr Bostock said.

“The ice cream represents Hawke's Bay with many of the ingredients being fresh produce from local suppliers — it is 100 percent natural and we still use the same recipes that were crafted by Charles Rush Munro 90 years ago.”

Mr Bostock said the strawberries come from the Strawberry Patch, the chocolate is made by Silky Oak, the coffee is Bay Espresso and the manuka honey comes from Arataki Honey.

“We ensure that we use local suppliers where we can,” he said.

“The heritage is important to the Rush Munro's brand and we are proud to only use real fruit and natural ingredients.”

Three friends who enjoyed Rush Munro's ice cream together at primary school still make weekly trips to the Garden Parlour, more than 70 years on.

Not much has changed in that time, except they've switched bikes for family vehicles.

At 75, Lloyd Singleton is the youngest of the group and he and friends David Keys and Paul Jones, both 78, have been mates all their lives.

Through primary, high school and their working years a Rush Munro's ice cream cone has been a well deserved “treat” — one they have enjoyed more in retirement than ever before.

Each Tuesday afternoon at the same time, whether summer or winter, they take up a table in the garden and shoot the breeze with ice cream cones in hand.

“We come so often now we only have to ask for ‘the regular’ and the girls know our order,” Mr Singleton said — he rarely strays from his favourite Rum and Raisin.

“David's a strawberry man and Paul hasn't changed from hokey pokey since he was 7 years old — the flavours taste the same as they always did.”

The friends played cricket together, and later golf, but eating ice cream is one pastime that's endured throughout the years.

A trip to Rush Munro's Garden Parlour held different memories as they aged, but the surrounds and the ice cream itself remain much the same.

“We have all been here with our children, and I bring my granddaughter — [she] comes to Rush Munro's every time she comes back to Hawke's Bay so there's quite a strong connection for us,” Mr Jones said.

“Lots of great memories, it was a real treat when we were young, I would ride down with my parents, it really was something special and it still is.”

• Rush Monroe's (website)

• Rush Monroe's (Facebook)

• Rush Monroe's (Tripadvisor)

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11737064



Rush Monroe's ice cream garden in Heretaunga Street West, Hastings, on opening day in 1931.

[Alicat]

Nice photo of David Keys. He was the loveliest Pharmacist imaginable. David was always so kind to his customers, especially his regular elderly folk who he regularly went the extra mile for.