Permanent home for Birdcage Tavern confirmed

The NZ Transport Agency has confirmed plans to return the historic Birdcage Tavern to near its original site when the Victoria Park Tunnel project is completed in 2012.

The tavern, which is one of Auckland’s oldest buildings, sits directly above the planned tunnel’s southern portal and was originally to have been moved permanently to a new site 40 metres away.

NZTA Auckland State Highways Manager Tommy Parker said the agency had now devised a means of safely returning the historic building to near its current location.

The tavern will be shifted to a temporary home 40 metres up the road from its present site later this year, then moved back when the tunnel project is complete in 2012. To keep the historic brick building secure for its double move, it will first be reinforced and placed on runway beams just below ground level. Hydraulic arms will then push it gently and very slowly along the beams up the road, and eventually back again to almost its identical position.

“We think this is a solution that is not only the best option for an important part of Auckland’s past, but one that will also enable the tavern to remain a vital part of the community in the future,” Mr Parker said.

Mr Parker said that the Birdcage cannot be relocated back exactly in its current position because of the location of the new tunnel portal. Instead it will be moved slightly further forward from its present position and rotated so that its façade sits better with junction of Franklin Road and Victoria Street West, creating more open space for people in front of the tavern.

“Working out an engineering solution to move the Birdcage slightly forward and rotating it from its original position represents a good result for the community and for preserving the building,” Mr Parker said.

The tunnel’s southern portal will be mostly concealed behind the tavern.

Mr Parker said the NZTA and its partners in the Victoria Park Tunnel Alliance face a number of challenges in planning for the move. These include:

• Realigning a sewer tunnel under the tavern
• Relocating the Freeman Bay storm water culvert
• Strengthening the tavern itself
• Reinforcing the southern end of the new tunnel to support the Birdcage

Mr Parker said the future home of the Birdcage had been the subject of robust discussion and consultation with the community and key stakeholders, including the Auckland City Council. The NZTA had considered leaving the tavern in the temporary site, or shifting it elsewhere in Victoria Park,

“We’re delighted that we can make significant improvements to Auckland’s motorway network with the Victoria Park Tunnel and also preserve an important heritage building and ensure it remains a focal point for the community,” said Mr Parker

The Birdcage Tavern: Background Information

How will the Birdcage be moved?
The tavern will be strengthened internally and externally to prepare it for the move. Then a series of runway beams will be constructed just below ground level through the hotel basement so that the entire structure can be lifted evenly onto the beams, and additional structural bracing will be added to the hotel to keep the building rigid. Hydraulic rams will then be used to push the hotel along the beams to new foundations which will be prepared 40 metre along Franklin Road.

When will the building be moved?
It is anticipated that the tavern’s move to its temporary home will be made in August. The same method will be used to return the hotel to its new permanent home when the Victoria Park Tunnel is complete in 2012.

Who will shift the hotel?
The Birdcage relocation work is being undertaken by the Victoria Park Alliance team with Dunning Thornton Consultants Ltd completing the engineering design. Dunning Thornton is one of New Zealand’s most experienced building moving specialists. The company has previously moved other significant buildings – the historic Waihi goldmine pumphouse, the Museum Hotel to make room for Te Papa in Wellington, and heritage buildings in central Wellington to make way for the capital’s inner-city by pass. The same engineer who supervised these moves will be supervising the Birdcage move.

How much will the two moves cost?
The total cost of the moves will be approximately $2.5 million.

Why does the Birdcage have to be moved?
The present location of the Birdcage will be above the southern portal of the Victoria Park tunnel. It is a “cut and cover’ tunnel, which will be constructed top-down, so the Birdcage must be shifted to make room for the heavy machinery used for constructing and excavating the tunnel.

The building also sits over a culvert that carries an old stream under Victoria Street West and Victoria Park to the Waitemata Harbour. The culvert is an important part of Auckland’s stormwater network. Blocking the culvert would cause flooding in lower Franklin Road and Victoria Street West, so it is being diverted. The new culvert will run parallel to the tunnel, and then cut across the tunnel roof before it reconnects with the existing culvert.

Also running behind the Birdcage is Watercare’s Orakei main sewer, a 100 year old brick lined sewer that takes almost half of Auckland’s sewage. Again, this sewer can not be blocked off. An S-shaped diversion has to be constructed through where the Birdcage is now, over the roof of the tunnel portal and back along Union Street to reconnect with the existing sewer

How far away from its present location will the Birdcage be after it is re-located?
The building will be situated approximately 10m forward of its current location, and rotated seven degrees anti-clockwise so that one side of the tavern will be parallel to the new alignment of Franklin Road. The new position will allow for the construction of the tunnel portal and Orakei main sewer line that needs to be diverted to run behind the Birdcage at the tunnel entrance.

What plans are there for a public plaza around the Birdcage?
Landscape Architects Boffa Miskell are developing concepts for public plazas and detailed design work can now be progressed with Auckland City Council.

ENDS

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