p3 Hip-hop artist’s Reefton link
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
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A Peter Findlay painting of the Reefton Powerhouse. The painting was presented to the president of the Powerhouse Committee Greg Topp by Ngaire Baxter and it hangs in his office to inspire him on all things electrical.
PICTURE: Claire Ward
Reefton’s electrifying news by Claire Ward
A
$2.874 million grant to the Reefton Powerhouse Charitable Trust Inc is powering up the project to restore and rebuild the town’s poineering power scheme in a regional heritage, economic development and tourism iniative for the district. News of the grant last month from the Lotteries Grants Board Significant Projects Fund has electrified the project, which aims to capitalise on Reefton’s special status as The Town of Light -- the first in the
Southern Hemisphere to have reticulated electricity. Work on the heritage project is expected to be underway in the next couple of months. The original power scheme was commissioned in 1888 and decommissioned in 1949 after Reefton was connected to the national electricity grid. In the intervening period three powerhouses, built in 1888, 1906 and 1935, powered the scheme. Only the foundations of the 1906 and 1935 power houses remain, Powerhouse Trust chairman Greg Topp said. “The 1906 and 1935 powerhouses will be
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reconstructed using local contractors along with a working plant that will be installed with refurbished historic parts like the turbine, dynamo/generator, etc, and an interpretive centre telling the story of Reefton’s place in being first in public electricity,” Mr Topp said. “But the first thing that will be repaired and reinstated is the 2km water race that conveyed water from the intake at Blacks Point to the powerhouses.” The scheme had cultural associations for the local community. Reefton was branded The Town of Light for its historical leadership in electricity generation, rather than for its more obvious
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and probably better known quartz reef mining history. Mr Topp said creation of a visitor attraction around the area’s electricity heritage would complement existing visitor attractions and recreational opportunities around Reefton and Blacks Point. It would also provide an opportunity to further educate and inform the public of Reefton’s electricity history, its place in world history and how it was achieved. “We envisage the whole project taking eighteen months to two years to finish with landscaping around the powerhouse the final part,” Mr Topp said.
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