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THE ORION POWERHOUSE GALLERY

In 1911, Akaroa became one of the first towns in Canterbury to have a supply of electricity when a small hydro power station was commissioned.

Category: Structures and Sites
Date: 1911
Street Address: 1 Rue Pompallier
HPT registered? Yes
District Plan Listed? Yes

On 11 September 1911, electricity began to illuminate the streets and provide power to households and businesses in Akaroa. The electricity was generated in a small hydro-electric power station below L’Aube Hill.

The plant had been purchased second-hand from the United Kingdom. A penstock from a small reservoir above L’Aube Hill, supplied initially from the Balguerie Stream, fed water to a pelton wheel which drove a dynamo to provide a direct current supply. The pelton wheel, generator and a switchboard were housed in a small, square, brick building, with an attractive pavilion roof which flared to broad eaves.

A larger addition to the rear of the original powerhouse was built several years later to house a gas engine and workshop. The gas engine was needed because the flow of water was insufficient to generate an adequate supply in the summer months. Power from the Lake Coleridge power station in the Southern Alps reached Akaroa in June 1923, but the generating plant remained in supplementary use until the mid 1950s. The equipment was eventually sold to the Maruia Springs Hotel.

In 1974 a Swiss jeweller than living and working in Akaroa, Kobi Bosshard, established a gallery in the empty building. It also began to be used for concerts. In 1977, an incorporated society took over running the powerhouse as a gallery and concert venue.

Towards the end of the century, at Maruia Springs, the plant became redundant. It was returned to Akaroa by a group of local volunteers with the support of the Akaroa Civic Trust. A power company, Orion, provided financial support for the project. In 2003 the equipment was re-installed in the powerhouse in its original position but in its 1923 configuration.

The building now doubles as small museum of technology and as a gallery and concert venue.

 

 

 

 

 

 
   
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