They are gone but not forgotten. The Suffrage Memorial artwork at Khartoum Place in the CBD looks set to stay, with the Waitemata local board backing an option to redevelop the area and open up the mid-staircase to Auckland Art Gallery.
The plan also has the approval of the Culture, Arts and Events Forum. The Suffrage Memorial artwork is an important reminder that New Zealand was the first country in the world to give women the vote. It was jointly commissioned by the former Auckland City Council and the 1993 Suffrage Centennial Year Trust, as a marker of 100 years since women won the right to vote.
The $75,000 mural, made out of high-bisque Italian terracotta floor tiles, was designed by Auckland artist Claudia Pond Eyley and ceramicist Jan Morrison, and unveiled on September 20, 1993 by then-Governor General Dame Catherine Tizard.
Several key NZ suffragists are depicted, notably journalist Lizzie Frost Rattray, Matildo Allsopp, one of the first seven women enrolled to vote, Ida Wells, first secretary of the National Council for Women and Elisabeth Yates, first woman mayor in NZ and the British empire. Some panels also reference Kiwi heritage, including a Maori flax kete pattern, the now-extinct Huia bird and a Southern Cross constellation.
The board voted 6-1 in favour of keeping the memorial and redeveloping upper Khartoum Place as per a proposal put forward in 2006. The plan is to install a new set of steps within the mid-section of the staircase to provide greater visibility and connection between the lower and upper squares.
The board included the proviso that a heritage assessment be completed first, and that affected businesses and facilities be properly consulted.