Hospital to feature in new Heritage Trail Panel
South Alive Project Manager Julz Orr, who is also a social worker at the hospital, beside a painting believed to be part of the design planning for Kew Hospital in 1935. The hospital opened in 1937 and came under the umbrella of senior Invercargill architect Edmund R. Wilson.
Staff and the public are being encouraged to find out more about Southland Hospital’s historic connection to south Invercargill during Southland Heritage Month.
The hospital will feature in South Alive’s latest South Invercargill Heritage trail panel that will be made public on March 18, and walking tours on the hospital grounds will take in the significant artworks on the walls, historic buildings on the ground as well as highlight the impressive Kew Bush an ancient forest remnant.
South Alive Project Manager Julz Orr, who is also a social worker at the hospital for the Cancer Psychosocial Team, says the heritage trail panels are a community-led initiative to tell the wonderful stories of South Invercargill.
Nine interpretation panels to be installed on a 4.5km trail in the suburbs of Appleby and Kew in south Invercargill.
To date, five panels have already been installed.
South Invercargill was its own borough for almost 80 years before amalgamating with Invercargill City and is not short on amazing stories, Julz says
The South Alive heritage project is about creating pride in our area and showcasing our amazing residents and history, she says.
“I’d encourage hospital staff to take part in the walking tours and definitely take the time to see the latest heritage panel, featuring the hospital, once it is installed.”
The panels aim to get people to better understand South Invercargill, hoping it will provide a springboard for residents to share their own stories and memories.
“If you take the hospital for example, there are many generations of families that have been patients or worked here, and in fact we pose the question on the latest panel “Were you born here?”
The first medical building on the hospital grounds was the Fever Hospital that opened in 1908.
In 1937 Southland Hospital opened. Two years later a fire broke out in an upstairs storeroom.
In 2004 a new regional Southland-base Hospital was built on the Kew site.
Walking Tour dates: Supported also by ICC Libraries and QEII
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Southland Hospital Tour: March 18, 1pm, meet in main foyer, free.
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Kew Bush and Southland Hospital Tour: March 25, 12.30pm, meet at the Southland Hospital Panel, Kew Road, free.
READ MORE ONLINE:
Southland Heritage Month and all the events available go to Southland Heritage Month | Southland, New Zealand
To learn more about the urban rejuvenation trust that is South Alive go to: South Alive – Urban Rejuvenation
Discover the impact senior Invercargill architect Edmund R. Wilson and his legacy in Southland go to Papers Past | Newspapers | Southland Times | 14 October 1941 | OBITUARY.