House Had Problems

The A-frame house project "Operation Two Worlds" sponsored by the Students' Association had been planned for eighteen months before it was started, Students' Association secretary Brian Opie told Salient.

The organisation was far from simple, and at times had members of the executive extremely harassed. Opie mentioned that at one stage timber was being cut while no site was available and none appeared to be forthcoming.

Besides a site for the erection of the house, a place under cover where prefabrication could be carried out in all weathers was required. This had to have entrances large enough to take an articulated vehicle, which limited the field of choice considerably. Eventually it was discovered that CORSO had a suitable site in the winter show buildings.

Opie told Salient that they also had trouble with the labour shortage, which, he said, was solved by accepting recruits from the men's common room and Weir House, The house took about 15 working days to build, with their help.

Later there were difficulties in finding furniture to display in the house, and troubles with the temporary plumbing, which resulted in leaks.

Opie mentioned that a great deal of co-operation had been received from the City Corporation and business community, and suggested that there was possibly a better "University image" in Wellington than many students thought.