Iconic features of Hamilton Gardens’ glasshouses will remain when the structure is removed in May.

Their removal will make way for a new open space, that features the existing black and white tiled flooring and entry archway.

The glasshouses, situated in the Victorian Flower Garden near Cobham Drive, have been closed since 2020, as part of cost-saving measures.

The removal of the glasshouses is budgeted in the 2021-2031 Long-Term Plan, and is expected to take around a month.

Over winter and spring, the Gardens team will add more plantings and grassed areas to complete the space.

Cyndy Hutchinson’s late father, Jack Jordan, worked at Hamilton Gardens for 30 years. He worked on many iconic features of the Gardens, including the tiled floor of the glasshouses.

“Hamilton Gardens is an extra special place for our family, we have lots of happy memories there. It’s excellent that the tiled floor will be maintained, and we’ll definitely be coming for a visit when the project is complete.”

Director of Hamilton Gardens, Lucy Ryan, said the glasshouses were inefficient and expensive to run.

“Compared to a small number of visitors, the glasshouses were expensive to run, and Council decided to close them in 2020. It’s now time to remove them and return this area to a useable space for our community.”

While glasshouses have been at this site since the 1960s, the current ones are not heritage buildings.

“Glasshouses were brought over from Memorial Park in the 1960s, but they have since been demolished,” said Ryan.

“In the current glasshouses, we’ve replaced several components of them at least once since they were installed.”

Five notable trees in the surrounding area will be protected during the removal project.

The work will have no impact on visitors to Hamilton Gardens, nor users of Cobham Drive.

This is not the end of glasshouses at the Gardens. The Pasifika Garden, currently under development, will be enclosed by a tall glasshouse, and showcase productive plants from the South Pacific.

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