“Our local community is strongly in support”.
Rev Grant Ridout, Minister at Ponsonby’s historic Presbyterian Church is confident the church will be saved, after it was devastated by a horrible fire. He and his congregation have massive local public support.
It has been established that the church, built in 1879, was set on fire by an arsonist. Police are chasing leads. So, almost 150 years after it was built, this beautiful old wooden building has survived, but perhaps only just.
You can see the spire of the church poking out into the Ponsonby sky from many parts of Auckland. It is much admired by tourists, and of course all local residents treasure its existence.
Insurance is likely to cover the major repairs to the roof and walls, also the nave, but there are some doubts about the organ and pews.
In the mean time, services are carrying on as usual in the hall, and Grant, his treasurer and administrator, Annabella D’Lima, and wife Hope, are making the best of a difficult time.
They are a bit frustrated that time is passing and council consents are slow. Their main concern has been to make the church property safe. They did find a small amount of asbestos in two ceilings, which has now been completely removed. Those were ceilings renovated in the 1930s.
Minor internal changes will be made to bring the church up to date, and these will fall outside insurance remits.
The main aim will be to restore the beauty of St Stephens to its original glory. Minister Grant Ridout just wants to remind locals that they are still there, keen to serve the community in the best way they can.
Drop in and have a chat, he urges, “We were finding our feet after Covid-19 and now the fire.”
An interesting addendum to this story - my house in Wanganui Ave was built in 1906 by John McLeod. He built this as his own home, but he and fellow Scots, built a number of local houses around 1900.
Grant Ridout told me there was a surge of Scots who worshipped at St Stephens at that time, and the congregation boomed. Perhaps John McLeod was a worshiper at our historic St Stephens Presbyterian Church.
We at Ponsonby News wish St Stephens all the best for their reconstruction, and we are confident locals will rally round to help too. (JOHN ELLIOTT)
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