Dunedin city councillors approved a proposal at yesterday's community and environment committee meeting to demolish the Moller Park Memorial Arch at Ravensbourne and replace it with a new memorial elsewhere.
The arch was built in 1937 to recognise the achievements of West Harbour mayor, councillor and Otago Harbour Board member Hagbarth Ernest Moller, but since then locals have become concerned it is a safety hazard for people leaving Moller Park on to State Highway 88.
Councillors spent very little time discussing the issue yesterday and supported the 34 of 53 submitters who had called for it to be demolished and replaced with a new memorial.
Parks and recreation group manager Richard Saunders said a site beside the nearby shared cycleway and walkway had been mooted as the spot for a replacement memorial.
A working party, which would include a member of the Chalmers Community Board and a representative of the Moller family, would work on a design and finalising a new location for the replacement memorial, Mr Saunders said.
Mr Saunders said no timeframe had been set for when the arch would be demolished. The staff report said two members of the Moller family made submissions as part of the process and both supported demolishing the memorial and replacing it.
Adjacent Ravensdown Works had offered to pay the estimated $25,468 it would cost to demolish and make good the site.
