Friends of the Wellington Botanic Garden president Mazz Scannell outside Begonia House. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
More than 150 people, including one who had flown in from England, took part in a sit-in at Wellington's Botanic Garden on Sunday.
The sit-in, the first of three upcoming events aimed at saving Begonia House from demolition, was organised by the Friends of the Wellington Botanic Garden.
In November, the Wellington City Council was advised that the conservatory should be demolished due to safety hazards.
Wellington City Council's chief operating officer James Roberts said Begonia House had been badly damaged due to the weather, including an incident in April when a heavy wind gust dislodged two glass panes from the roof.
Two glass panes at Wellington Botanic Garden's Begonia House were dislodged by strong winds on 25 April 2024. Photo: Facebook / Wellington Gardens
However, later that month, councillors gave Begonia House a lifeline through an amendment that said the future of the building would be assessed after a review of it this year.
Begonia House was built in 1960, and Robyn Tiller told RNZ it had been a part of her parents', her own, her siblings', her children's, and her grandchildren's lives since then.
"I grew up in Tawa in Wellington, and when my parents bought their first car, this was one of the places they brought us as a family.
"When I had my own children, I was in the Hutt Valley, and I'd bring my children here.
"And now that I have grandchildren, when they were little, I bought them here too."
Tiller said Begonia House was a taonga for Wellington.
"It is much used, and very much loved, and people like me, it goes through generations, from my childhood."
Robyn Tiller (left) and Jane Kitchenman. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Judith Witts, a member of Friends of the Wellington Botanic Garden, had flown in from England for the sit-in on Sunday.
"It's not just for Wellington - I think it's for New Zealand," she said.
"As a tourist, it's one of the things you want to see."
People in and outside a sit-in at Begonia House. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Mary MacGibbon said Begonia House was extraordinary for "various reasons".
"It's very, very beautiful. The unbelievable and rare plants. And the music and some of the readings. There's something very special about it. It's not very expensive to maintain. It should be kept."
Mary MacGibbon. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Friends of the Wellington Botanic Garden president Mazz Scannell said nearly 8000 people had signed the petition to save Begonia House.
"It just shows that people from Wellington and all over the world, and the rest of the country, really care about this building."
People at a sit-in at Begonia House. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
As for why Scannell thought it was so important to save Begonia House, she said there were two reasons:
"The first one is the plants. So this building represents tropical plants. We can't grow those in New Zealand unless they're in a conservatory. And it is the third part of a triangle that goes with Ōtari(-Wilton's Bush) for the native plants, the Botanic Garden for temperate plants, and the tropics. And we live in the Pacific. There's a lot of tropics in the Pacific.
"And then you've got the people. All multi-generational. It's free. It's flat. And you can see from these protesters here that some of them are less able than others, and this is their special place."
A person holding up a sign outside Begonia House. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Scannell said the sit-in was the first of three upcoming events aimed at saving Begonia House from demolition. The second, a human chain around Begonia House, will be held next Saturday.
"I might have too many people for that, which is fantastic, so we might also do a chain around the Rose Gardens."
It will be followed by a public protest outside the Wellington City Council office on 13 February.
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