Adopt-a-Box: Glaring Yellow.

In the heart of Hamilton stands a lonely traffic signal box. A lonely naked beige traffic signal box. Except it’s not beige. Can you spot it?

Here, I'll make it easy for you.

That’s my box, and it’s even worse than beige! I chose a location to paint through the Adopt-A-Box website and Google Street View. Truth is sadder than cyberspace – not only does Box #4015 sport a glaring yellow sign on an out-of-place-baby-blue body, I have left it in said state since, oh, August. Behold, also, the reason why Adopt-A-Box is partially funded from the Ministry of Justice Graffiti Vandalism Prevention Fund:

No doubt it’s exactly because of this sort of fairy nonsense that the Ministry of Justice cares about graffiti. 🙂

You will see that #4015 has a tagalong (Edit: Ha! A pun!). I have a soft spot for good spray paint art and can totally see the appeal of a bit of brightening in the right nook. While the stencil on #4011 is a clever take on a banana brand, I had to blurr the word thanks to the artist’s crudeness. Isn’t it odd that Hamilton has lost stenciled hearts and birds to our anti-graffiti painters but that toilet humour survives at one of our busiest intersections? Methinks my little painting project will be stretching over two objects now. Boon!

As for location, you can’t get any more iconic in Hamilton than the Fairfield Bridge. The bridge was opened in March 1937, having been built of reinforced concrete for a princely £22,426. Three sweeping bowstring arches extend along the 139-m span. You can see the Art Deco influence of the time in the balustrades and lamp posts that complement those lovely curves. Fairfield Bridge has been listed with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust since 1990, which I reckon it deserves on looks alone.

I bet even seasoned Hamiltonians don’t know the other reasons for the status of the bridge. According to the Historic Places Trust, the bridge was at the cutting edge of concrete technology when it was built. The middle span was the largest of its kind in the country, and the bridge remains the best example of a bowstring bridge in New Zealand. I love that the Trust describes its design as “confidence with refinement”. That such a fine structure was even built is remarkable considering Hamilton’s size at the time. Check out the plaque at the Victoria Street end:

Please excuse the evidence of former vandalism.

Note the commissioning council…yep, Waikato County! Back in 1937, this bridge wasn’t even in Hamilton! It’s about a kilometre north of Boundary Road (cue “ohh” from the locals) and wasn’t included in the city limits until 1949. Apparently some people thought that the bridge was way out of town and would hardly be used. ‘Seems to me there will always be Some People to rain on a good idea. As it happened, the only other bridge servicing Hamilton needed repairs shortly after ol’ Fairfield was finished. Farmers on the north of the settlement loved the improved access, and it’s now roughly the central point of the city. Good on the folk who had the foresight to build this bridge.

I peered at the names on that plaque for a long while. We have a Barton Street in the CBD – who reckons the County Clerk Mr. Barton had something to do with that? I know a Mrs. de Malmanche has taught mathematics at a local high school – perhaps a descendant by marriage of the Clerk of Works? It’s one of the things I love about Hamilton: we’re a city with a small-town heart, where it doesn’t take long to make connections between people. Even as I took these photos, several people drove past whom I know.

The next step is for me to brainstorm ideas for painting Box #4015 and chat to the Adopt-A-Box people about sprucing up its poor cousin. My design needs to conform to at least one of the following:

• Say something or tell a story about the area/suburb it is located;
• Reflect the character, culture, history or heritage of the suburb or area;
• Be ‘city centric’ (e.g. have images that relate to Hamilton as a city);
• Show aspects of the immediate environment – like landmarks, sights, sounds or experiences; or
• Acknowledge the youthfulness of Hamilton’s population.

What ideas do you have for our box buddies?

THE DEETS

Attraction: Fairfield Bridge

Location: Spanning the mighty Waikato River between Victoria Street and River Road. That’s  co-ordinates -37.771809, 175.269923 to the geeky.

Cost: Mega pounds back in the day. None to you, though.

Tourist value: Eye candy, especially from the river walkways either side of the Waikato.

Bonus Hoot: Spot the camera man! He’s in one of the photos above.