With the launch of the newly digitised Wellington Airport Development Collection we take a look back at a version of Rongotai that no longer exists.
Local resident Ron Cameron extensively documented the development of Wellington Airport and the effect it had on the shape of Rongotai, Evans Bay and Lyall Bay in the 1950s. A selection of his photographs are available to view in person at the Kilbirnie Library throughout the month of June.
The original Rongotai Aerodrome opened in Lyall Bay in 1928, but as aircraft technology advanced, it was quickly noted that Wellington needed a bigger and more reliable airport. Proposals for a new site carried on for many years until the area that forms the airport today was formally selected in 1950. In order to achieve optimal runway length, the new runway would need to be extended into the sea on both sides of Rongotai. This would require extensive reclamation of both Evans and Lyall Bays, as well as the relocation of over 160 buildings.
Construction couldn’t begin until the affected residents were relocated. Land for new homes in Wellington was already at a premium, so it was decided that the soil that had to be removed from nearby hills would be placed in Evans Bay, creating valuable reclaimed land for new residential zones. As earth from above Aberdeen Quay (now part of Cobham Drive) filled up more of the bay, houses in Rongotai were precariously relocated to their new sites in Kilbirnie. Continue reading “Where did Rongotai Terrace go?”