A tram at the corner of Karangahape Road and Symonds Street, either late 1940s orduring the 1950s down to when trams were withdrawn in 1956. It stopped outside

the Caledonian Hotel (itself built c.1870, and demolished1980). Across the road onSymonds Street can be seenthe Edwardian-era tram stoploos near the entrance toGrafton Bridge. 

The tram had left the city,come up Queen Street (past theTown Hall), then turned left into Karangahape Road, and rightinto Symonds Street, heading towards New North Road andKingsland, Morningside, Mt Albert and Avondale. 

Image: a postcard purchased through TradeMe.

The Avondale

Historical Journal 

July-August 2012 Volume 11 Issue 66

Official Publication of the Avondale-Waterview Historical  Society Incorporated  

Next meeting of the

Avondale-Waterview

Historical Society:

Saturday, 4 August 2012,

2.30 pm

St Ninian’s ChurchSt Georges Road, Avondale

(opp. Hollywood Cinema) 

10th ANNUAL GENERAL

MEETING

Taking the tram home to Avondale

 

The Avondale Historical Journal  Volume 11 Issue 66

 Page 2

Avondale CollegeAvondale Intermediate

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I went to Avondale Intermediate from 1975-1976. Whathas always struck me is that the Intermediate is in theshadow of its larger neighbour — it hasn’t even had thechance, since 1945 (same year the College started) topull together a published school history. Instead, mostof what is known of the school’s story is scatteredamong files at Archives New Zealand (where much of the information in this article came from), newspapercuttings, and what past pupils may or may not remem-ber. I hope that situation changes soon. 

Surprisingly to me, what we know as Avondale Collegewas not initially intended to become a secondary schoolat all when that part of the facility was designed andbuilt during World War II as the American forceshospital — the Government’s intention had been tohave a  primary school  along with an intermediateschool on the site. This was announced in early June1944, as the Americans were vacating the premises, andplans for peacetime use of the Holly-Victor-Rosebank Road site were being worked out. 

The conversion of the American Hospital at Rosebank 

 Road, Avondale, into two schools —one primary and 

one intermediate —should soon be an accomplished 

 fact, according to a statement made to-day by the

chairman of the Auckland Education Board,

 Mr W J Campbell. 

 Mr Campbell said the report that the hospital was

being vacated, together with a telegram received by the

 Mayor, Mr Allum, concerning the houses on the prop-

erty erected for staff quarters for the hospital, were

indications that the property would be handed over to

the board in the near future. 

School accommodation was urgently needed at 

 Avondale, he said. This was realised when the hospital

was designed, the plans being drawn with a view to the

speedy conversion of the buildings into schools the

moment they were made available. 

"The construction of the hospital on lines for an easy

change-over to schools showed vision on the part of the

Government and no doubt in the long run will save time

and a large sum of money in the construction of 

separate schools," said Mr. Campbell. "When the deci-

sion was made the promise was given that there should 

be two schools, one primary and one intermediate , and 

the proposal was eminently satisfactory to the board." 

 Mr Campbell said the present school on the main road,

close to the railway line at Avondale, was out of date in

every respect. It was attended by between 600 and 700

children. Its locality was dangerous, and the playing

area was inadequate. Residents of the district would be

thrilled at the prospect of the new schools being

1959-1960

Avondale Intermediate—struggling

for space (1945-1967)

 

The Avondale Historical Journal  Volume 11 Issue 66

 Page 3

the Board in 1951 to complete the grounds at AvondaleCollege – but this was not to include the Intermediate.  

July 1951 – School Committee asked for an assemblyhall to be built at the school “such as that built atPasadena Intermediate School”, the start of a 15-yeareffort to secure the addition. Up to this point, theCollege and Intermediate shared the College’s hall andgymnasium, but Avondale College rolls were rising too.Use of the existing facilities had been “practicallydenied to the School,” according to Mr Gair. 

Apparently, Mr Gair expressed strong opinions to theEducation Board as to their lack of response to theSchool’s accommodation needs. In August 1951, theBoard responded that they were well aware of theaccommodation crisis, and that they had four new inter-mediate schools underway at that time, one of which,Wesley Intermediate, was designed to take up enrol-ments from Owairaka, Blockhouse Bay and possiblyNew Lynn, all areas served by Avondale’s intermediateschool. Another school was planned in the future forKelston, and “another one to replace the presentAvondale Intermediate … so as to ultimately free upthe whole of the present ground for the College.”Where this would have been, the files didn’t say.  

Despite all this, in January 1952, the Headmaster againwrote to the Board, concerned that the rolls would riseby two sub-grades that year. 

In 1954, with the coming of a separate controlling bodyfor the College, the Education Board took steps to try toclarify the boundary between the two schools, so thateach committee could plan their own development. Areport was prepared. 

“The Board owns title to 11¾ acres which in the main

is … occupied by the Avondale Intermediate School.

The combined playing fields are allocated between the

college and the Intermediate School …The North end of 

the 11¾ acres has on it, roughly on the median line, the

old boiler room building and beyond this an undevel-

oped area which includes the present rifle range for the

College.” The College apparently considered using therifle range area as a site for their swimming pool. In theend, the Intermediate site was set at 10½ acres, 4 of which were developed with buildings. 

In March 1957, the query was raised by the school as towhether the Armoury, “situated in the waste areabehind the power house” was the responsibility of theCollege, the Intermediate, or some other body ordepartment. The Board responded that the Armourywas the responsibility of the Army (Works Dept.)Questions then arose in 1958 as to whether the oldboiler house was within the Intermediate grounds or theCollege’s. The Board responded that while theEducation Department intended constructing a bulk store behind the boiler house with the Intermediate

occupied at an early date. They had been looking

 forward to the change-over ever since it was first sug-

gested some months ago that the hospital was to be

vacated.

"From my knowledge of the buildings plans were in a

large measure those of the board—l do not think it will

take long to make the change over." said Mr. Campbell.

"The accommodation provided under the scheme is for 

some 600 or 700 pupils in the primary school and 500

in the intermediate school. The 11 acres in the block 

will provide ample playing grounds for both schools.

There is urgent need for the schools to be opened."(Auckland Star 14 June 1944)

By the end of that same month, however, the plans hadchanged. The new primary school (perhaps what wouldhave been called Rosebank Primary?) was now destinedto be a Junior Technical High School, feeding in toSeddon Memorial Tech. The education district, whichincluded West Auckland, Blockhouse Bay andOwairaka then, still needed an intermediate school —so Avondale Intermediate came to be, at the edge of the facility transformed from medical to educationalpurposes. Almost always a bit of an “odd one out”.

Here is something of what the Archives NZ files cantell us about the development of the school, from beingthe easternmost end of the American Hospital buildingsfrom World War II, to fairly well the bounds of theschool today. Recently, there has been considerablemodernisation — I have a hard time recognising theplace where I once learned and played.  

The first document found came from March 1948, justover two years since Standards 5 and 6 at AvondalePrimary were transferred to the new school off HollyStreet. The secretary of the School Committee (onceagain) expressed the need to the Education Board forthe school to have a science lab and dental clinic. TheBoard noted that providing a “tropical hut” for lab pur-poses might be an answer and said they needed to waitfor an answer from the Health Dept re the dental clinic.(There was a clinic by the time I went there, as I recall.)  

The roll in 1948 was 596, and was expected to rise to687, which entitled the school to 18 classrooms and 18teachers in general subjects (in 1948, the school had 14classrooms). The Board responded promising a doubleclassroom pre-fab building, along with a new pre-fabbuilding (a set of 50 just built), so that the school wouldhave three extra rooms. 

The school’s playing area had been sown around 1944-1945 with grass seed, as Headmaster Mr Gair wouldlater describe it in 1950, on “more or less bare clay.”He referred to the Intermediate as being “in a state of beggary,” which, judging from the files, wasn’t farfrom the truth. He asked the Board for 100 yards of top-soil – this was declined. A grant was later provided by

 

The Avondale Historical Journal  Volume 11 Issue 66

 Page 4

Copies of Avondale Historical Journal and AWHSNewsletter produced for us by

Words Incorporated, 557 Blockhouse Bay Road,

Blockhouse Bay.

The Society and AHJ editorial staff thank 

Avondale Business Associationfor their continued support and sponsorship of this

publication.  

The Avondale Historical Journal

Published by:the Avondale-Waterview Historical Society Inc.Editor: Lisa J. TruttmanSociety contact:19 Methuen Road, Avondale, Auckland 0600Phone: (09) 828-8494, 027 4040 804email: historian@avondale.org.nzSociety information:Website: http://sites.google.com/site/avondalehistory/ Subscriptions: $10 individual

$15 couple/family$30 corporate

School committee’s permission in 1955, part of theboiler house was used by the College to store mowingequipment, while the department used the rest for gen-eral storage. The boiler house was technically part of the Intermediate School – but the Board never intendedthat it become part of the school’s facilities. In May1958, the Board decided that the boiler house was offi-cially part of Avondale College.  

In 1958, the Intermediate’s grading roll, despite theopening of new intermediates in Auckland, rose to 801,requiring 20 classrooms. In 1959, Blockhouse BayIntermediate opened, taking 105 pupils fromAvondale’s roll, but still leaving Avondale with 754pupils. A classroom was removed to Belmont, as was“one section of the temporary bicycle rack recentlyprovided, to be used elsewhere.” (Everything in thosedays seemed to be temporary and mobile — I wasaware before as to the pre-fab classrooms, my class-room in both years at Intermediate was in a pre-fab, butbike racks too?) Avondale’s roll dropped again duringthe year, to 622. More classrooms and equipment wasremoved. 

In 1959, the Board proposed extending the existingschool library into an adjoining office, but headmasterR W Wilcox expressed concerns that this would not beenough. The school already had around 15,000 books,350 feet of shelving, and many more books wereexpected to arrive under the free book scheme. Wilcoxtold the Board the school needed 200 more feet of shelving, not just another 50 feet. He also put forwardthe case for the Intermediate to have its own assemblyhall (again). “I am allowed to use the (College) hall one

day a week for School assembly and must be out by

9.30 to make room for College Music classes.” 

The library at Avondale Intermediate remained arelatively small one down to the 1970s. I remember theimpression of being surrounded by bookshelves, withnot a lot of space to sit at a table to read. Comparedwith that, the old library at Avondale College (at the

end of D-block and part of the gymnasium/hall com-plex) in the late 1970s was much larger – even before itwas transferred to a separate building in the early1980s. 

Negotiations to buy additional land toward Holly Streetand away from Avondale College for the intermediateschool began in 1965. Finally, in 1966, a contract waslet to Messrs Levy and Curruthers Ltd of Mt Albert“for the erection of two classrooms and toilets, boys’

manual block, hall, administration and alterations to

existing building.” In December 1966, the pupils of Room 12 at the Intermediate were up in arms about theimminent destruction of pohutukawa trees in the schoolgrounds to make way for the extensions. “If the de-

struction continues, New Zealand will soon become a

desert,” they told the  NZ Herald . I don’t recall thetrees, as shown in a photo on the file. This earlyenvironmental campaign (probably one of the first forAvondale) probably did not succeed. 

In 1967, the headmaster Mr Pickens wrote to the Boardthat he expected the roll to fall again with the openingof Kelston Intermediate that year.  

The Avondale Intermediate I remember was a mix of pre-fab and permanent buildings, and all pupilsseparated into “houses” for activities and competitionwithin the school - Freyberg (yellow), Jellicoe (green),Cobham (red) and Newell (blue), after Governors-general (I was in Jellicoe House). We wore colouredribbon sewn on our uniforms. The headmaster duringmy time was Mr Carnachan, who would give informa-tive talks in the assembly hall for which the earlyschool committees had campaigned so hard. The twotopics that have stuck in my mind were regardingDominion Day, and hovercraft. From the intermediate,I only needed to go next door to Avondale Collegefrom 1977-1981. It seemed almost part of the samesystem to me. 

Today, Avondale Intermediate’s roll stands at around342, less than half the numbers the school had to copewith at its height in the 1950s.  

— Lisa J Truttman