'Mini-museum' experience on lower Victoria Avenue
Published on 23 September 2021
Whanganui local Chloe Gulbransen viewing part of the display
As part of its work to make the town centre more vibrant, Whanganui District Council’s town centre regeneration team has installed a large-scale display of historic photos in the window of the former Hallensteins’ building on lower Victoria Avenue.
Town Centre Regeneration project manager, Ellen Young, says the team is already seeing a lot of enthusiasm and enjoyment as people engage with the history corner.
The council’s heritage advisor, Scott Flutey, who is an historian by training, worked with local archives and institutions to select photos for the lower Victoria Avenue window display. He says he wanted to show lesser-known photos that had only recently been digitised and might be new to locals.
Scott Flutey says the photos “create a ‘mini-museum’ experience, pinpointing interesting moments in the last century to give a sense of how people used that space before us and show what’s changed and what’s stayed the same”.
Ellen Young says the large scale of the photographs “creates an immersive experience, bringing the past to life. Some of the people in the scene appear to be staring right at you, because they’ve spotted the photographer and are looking curiously at the camera.”
A ‘mystery history’ telephone will be installed near the historic photo display before Christmas, so audio stories can expand on the mini-museum experience.
As with the telephone recently installed on Drews Avenue, users will be able to press buttons to listen to snippets of historic stories.
The historic photo display and the ‘mystery history’ telephone were originally part of the Innovating Streets lower Victoria Avenue streetscape project, which was halted in August.
Ellen Young encourages people to read the captions accompanying the photos when they view the display.
“You’ll find out about an 1881 landmark used by both horses and people, what happened on the avenue when it snowed in 1901, which animals were raced down the street in 1963, and more.”