Brochure 2012

A Long-term Vision for Hawke’s Bay

Hastings District Council soon will make Stoneycroft available to proponents of a digital archive.

Now begins the long-overdue task of creating an accessible record of the region’s treasures. This must happen before more valuable Hawke’s Bay history is lost.

Preserve Hawke’s Bay’s History

The potential of Stoneycroft makes it the most important historical archive outside Wellington.

It changes Hawke’s Bay forever, bringing significant economic, social and cultural benefit.

The district council’s decision puts a roof over the project. The key, however, will be the equipment inside the building.

This library provides technical savvy upstairs and a fun place downstairs.

Written word, art and trinkets  Studios at Stoneycroft will be especially equipped to complement the workrooms of the National Library, maybe even subcontract work for them and local authorities. Equipment will be mostly superior to that seen elsewhere.

Photographs and film  An 8mm and 9mm film scanner will also be at work. According to the National Film Archive this is much needed in New Zealand and could be a money spinner.

Spoken word  There will be a story booth, a sound-proofed interview and recording studio for oral histories. Much of this equipment will be portable so that it can be carried by interviewers to subjects’ homes.

Secure on-screen displays on the verandahs (showing historical slide shows) will be an attraction to users of Stoneycroft grounds.

Hands-on space for information hungry citizens, a family room, will provide stimulation with Kete (knowledge basket) and Aotearoa People’s Network schemes.

For the public, Stoneycroft downstairs becomes a world of discovery: large rooms restored as viewing galleries.

Strategically placed computers will be available for researchers. Others will display live slideshows to enable folk of all ages to learn about the place in which they live.

An art cinema will screen historical city celebrations, blossom events … festivals, air shows and car parades, much captured on film by Hawke’s Bay residents. There will also be digitised film shows courtesy National Film Archive; at times several screenings a day.

The topic gallery concentrates on a regular theme. (Examples: The Nelsons; meat industries; Williams

family; Frimley cannery, Wattie empire, Wyona; architects and architecture; winegrowing; fishing industry; the Fruitbowl of New Zealand, sheep, beef and forestry; dramas and pestilence of yesteryear.

Footnote: Stoneycroft has easy access from all quarters of the region. The property is visible. It is well placed, away from danger of a tsunami, or earthquake-driven flood. It is well equipped with sprinklers. Should there be a blaze, the loss would at most be only a part of the wooden structure. Hawke’s Bay’s heritage will be safely recorded in separate bunkers.

The Region’s Digital Record

This project brings together the knowledge, thoughts and experiences of companies, private individuals and institutions across the province.

Via the library’s scanners, computers and fileservers, a copy of treasures held by people throughout the province will be saved, and annotated.

The digital copies will serve as quick reference for researchers businesses, writers, students of every age.

All scanning and annotation will be done on systems linked to the National Library. Methods employed will follow international standards – to ensure further life for the records in the days ahead, after computers. Now, whatever the fates might bring to the original in a person’s home or office, the information is stored forever.

Architectural, accounting and technical advice is that we need $1-million to restore the interior, fit-out Stoneycroft and provide the plant to achieve the standards outlined.

We could have invited you to contribute a percentage of the establishment costs. In the circumstances, however, we feel it is appropriate to give you the opportunity of full sponsorship of the project.

Your contribution will establish the Digital Library as a centre of excellence, a landmark parallel in importance only to the internationally-regarded Alexander Turnbull Library.

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
HAWKE’S BAY
“A little generosity goes a long way”