Dear Mayor Andrew Little,
I am a teenager living in Wellington CBD, which is now the largest suburb in our city. I have been involved in the campaign to create a park in Civic Square through saveourcivicsquare.org.
But this letter is not about me. It is about money, and how our city is in a financial crisis.
Whenever I speak with our city councillors and attend Council meetings to discuss a potential Civic Square Park, the conversation always seems to come back to the same thing: money. The bottom line. I understand that Wellington has financial problems and cannot keep living above its means.
But if money is all that matters, here is my elevator pitch for a Civic Square Park:
The city proposal is to lease the empty lot beside our Civic Square, our public land, to a developer for more than 100 years for only around $5 to $7 million. After that, the city hopes to receive some revenue over time if the site becomes apartments or office space.
But if we are willing to lease away public land for over a century for that amount of money, why not instead keep the land public and seek perhaps half that amount, say $2 to $3 million for 25 years, from a corporate sponsor for naming rights to a new Civic Square Park?
We have already accepted this idea elsewhere. Our stadium is called Hnry Stadium. Rumour has it that naming rights there cost about $100,000 a year. On that basis, a 25-year naming arrangement would be worth $2.5 million. So why not apply similar thinking here?
That way, the city still gets badly needed money, but the land remains for everyone, not just the people who might live in a future apartment tower, or work in another office building. To me, that seems like far better value and the kind of city we want Wellington to be. Public land for all to use.
We do not need another 14-storey building in the heart of our city. There is already enough empty office space around. What we do need is living grass, open public space, and something that brings people together.
At Save Our Civic Square, we have many ideas for possible corporate sponsors. There are surely businesses that would value having their name associated with a premium public site in the very centre of Wellington, beside Te Matapihi, Town Hall, City Gallery and the cultural heart of the city.
For example, the large new bathroom building, which we have just realized is necessary because Town Hall cannot open without it, could also support a giant outdoor theatre screen and stage alongside it. When performances at the Town Hall or the Michael Fowler Centre sell out, they could be broadcast live into the park for the public to enjoy.
Under the Town Hall, Sir Peter Jackson has helped provide our city with one of the greatest sound systems in the Southern Hemisphere. Why not build on what is already there and create a real civic space for concerts, outdoor films, and community events?
The square could host concerts, outdoor films, public gatherings like protest, and community events, like graduations, swearing in of new citizens or swearing in for the next mayor.
If Council is making decisions based on money, then let us at least be smarter and more imaginative about how that money is raised.
Please do not measure Civic Square only by what a developer might pay to build on it. Measure it by what it could give back to Wellingtonians every day for the next 100 years. If we work together, we can find ways to make money and not lose this valuable public asset. A building helps a few. A park helps everyone.
Come on, Mayor Andrew Little, I am willing to shout a coffee at the new library cafe for you and Sir Peter Jackson to talk about it. Or any corporate sponsor that wants to seize the value of $3 million advertising in the heart of Wellington city.
Let’s not throw away this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Yours sincerely,
Y Bjors
saveourcivicsquare.org
Attend Council meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqMt0IyGVY8