Victoria Park Market is a cluster of galleries, workshops, studios, offices, restaurants and retail shops as well as a gym and Pilates Studio in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand. The precinct is housed in a former

waste Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste prod ...

depot and incinerator complex. It is located in

Freemans Bay Freemans Bay is the name of a former bay and now inner city suburb of Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The bay has been filled in to a considerable extent, with the reclamation area now totally concealing the ancient shoreline. Hist ...

and its name derives from the adjacent

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

which was created in 1905 and named after the late Queen who had died four years earlier. Until April 2016 the precinct was a craft, souvenir and clothing market and retail complex. It underwent a $22M refurbishment allowing for the earthquake proofing of the historic buildings and the introduction of some new buildings. The weekend Pop Up Markets recommenced in June 2017 after the refurbishment works were completed. There is a popular Celebrity Walk of Fame; this opened in 1984, and features the hand or footprints of famous New Zealanders including Sir

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reache ...

, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa,

Billy T James William James Te Wehi Taitoko (17 January 1948 – 7 August 1991) better known by his stage name Billy T. James, was a New Zealand entertainer, comedian, musician and actor. He became a key figure in the development of New Zealand comedy and a ...

, John Walker and

Rachel Hunter Rachel Hunter (born 8 September 1969) is a New Zealand model, actress and the host of Imagination Television's ''Rachel Hunter's Tour of Beauty''. She has appeared on several magazine covers, including ''Vogue'', ''Elle'', ''Rolling Stone'', ' ...

Site history

The site of the Victoria Park Market buildings was originally part headland and part

foreshore The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species ...

of Freemans Bay. In the late 1870s the bay began to be reclaimed, and various commercial and residential buildings were erected on the widened foreshore. The street directly behind and above the market runs along the top of the ancient sea cliff. Fear of bubonic plague from rats Auckland residents disposing of rubbish in vacant lots led the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...

to consider a purpose-built incinerator in 1900. Construction of the Meldrum Destructor was tendered in 1904 to J. Barre Johnston Ltd of Sydney, and completed in 1905. From 1905 to 1918 a series of

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...

buildings was constructed on the site, including a works debut, blacksmith, carpenters, stables and a 38m tall chimney. On 10 February 1908, a power generator was opened at the site, using the heat produced by the destructor and coal. The amount of power generated did not meet demand, so three 225 kW steam generators were installed soon afterwards. Demand for power kept increasing, and the plant was shut down in 1913 after a new coal fired power station was constructed on the city's waterfront at

Kings Wharf Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

. Further additions were made from 1914 to 1918, including double storeyed stabling for the 94 horses used to pull the city's rubbish carts, and council administration offices. From 1952 the stables were no longer used for their original purpose, and the 'Destructor' ceased operation in 1972, although the complex continued to act as a rubbish collection depot until 1981. The

originally planned to demolish the complex, but relented following a public campaign. It was converted into a market and retail complex, and alterations were made for this purpose in 1983 and 1990. The complex is a Category I Historic Places under the

Historic Places Act 1993 The Historic Places Act 1993 was an Act of the New Zealand Parliament. It defines Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic P ...

. A further redevelopment was delayed by the financial crisis of 2008 but a NZ$20 million refurbishment began in 2012 and was complete by mid-2013. The refurbished market was branded as an urban village, an upmarket retail precinct in a heritage setting, with offerings including lifestyle and beauty stores, cafes, delicatessens, restaurants and bars.Victoria Park Market new hot spot? - The Auckander -

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspaper ...

, Friday 27 September 2013 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/aucklander/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503378&objectid=11130502

References

External links

Victoria Park Market
(official website) {{Shopping centres in New Zealand Buildings and structures in Auckland Market houses Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Auckland Region Shopping centres in the Auckland Region 1910s architecture in New Zealand Auckland CBD