Patent slip A heritage site near Greta Point commemorates the former
Patent slip that operated in this location. The first slipway on the site was commissioned in May 1863 to enable maintenance of the hulls of small vessels. The Wellington Provincial Council was keen to encourage shipping trade by improving facilities in Wellington harbour, and began planning later in 1863 for the construction of a larger patent slip. A concession was granted for the supply, construction and operation of a patent slip on the site. Equipment for the new slip was delivered in 1865 and 1866, but construction was delayed for several years because of a contractual dispute concerning the suitability of the design for the ground conditions. The original suppliers lost a court case and withdrew from the project. The Wellington Patent Slip Company was formed to take over the assets and construction began in 1871. In March 1873, the Patent Slip was officially opened. A second slipway was constructed at the site in 1922. The original slip operated until 1969, and the second was closed on 31 July 1980. Most equipment has been removed from the site, and a residential development now occupies some of the original land. However, the site has been listed as a Category 2 Historic Place, and the area is classified as a heritage zone by the Wellington City Council.
Union Steam Ship Company, Greta Point During 1910 – 1911 the
Union Steam Ship Company reclaimed land at Greta Point next to the Patent Slip and constructed a large complex of buildings, including a laundry, workshops, a sawmill and upholstery department. All of the company's laundry in New Zealand was handled by the site at Evans Bay. By 1981 all but one building had been demolished, and the former store became a bar and restaurant known as the Greta Point Tavern. In 2003 it was moved in pieces in 11 trips by barge to a site on Queens Wharf in the inner city. Not much remains of the original building except the exterior. As of 2022 the relocated building houses Foxglove bar and restaurant. The land at Greta Point was then used for a 91-unit townhouse development designed by Stuart Gardyne and Allan Wright of architecture+ and built during 2001–2002.
Power station In the early 1920s a
coal-fired power station was built at Shag Point in Evans Bay (approximately near the roundabout at the intersection of Calabar Road and Cobham Drive). It began full operation in May 1924 and was shut down in 1968. Coke breeze ( a coal by-product) from the power station was used as infill for reclamation at the Evans Bay Yacht Club site. While the power station was unpopular due to its unsightliness and emissions,
Flying boats Evans Bay functioned as the preferred flying-boat alighting area in Wellington Harbour during the 1930s, and local officials promoted it through the decade as such. However a 1938 report concluded that although Evans Bay was the best site for flying boats in Wellington Harbour, it was subject to strong winds that would make a regular service unviable. Visits from
Imperial Airways aircraft took place in 1938 as well as from
Pan American types. In 1940
Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) flew one of their two
Short Empire flying boats to Evans Bay with dignitaries who attended the nearby
New Zealand Centennial Exhibition located at
Rongotai. Although
RNZAF Short Sunderland and
Consolidated Catalina flying-boat operations flew intermittently through the 1940s from their seaplane base at
Shelly Bay located on the western side of the
Miramar Peninsula, it was not until October 1950 that TEAL (the forerunner to the national airline
Air New Zealand), operated a permanent overseas service to
Australia from Evans Bay. A temporary terminal was provided by using roadside parking-garages along Evans Bay Parade at the sheltered western end of the bay next to the
patent slip, until a more substantial terminal facility was constructed for TEAL on reclaimed land at what is now Cog Park in 1951. At first passengers were transported by launch between the shore and the flying boats, but in 1951 a small jetty was built and connected via a gangway to a floating pontoon made of 124 large square steel tanks connected together and ballasted with water and oil. The pontoon was built at
Gracefield from ship tanks used by US forces during World War 2 to build rafts and wharves. The tanks were welded together in three sections, which were then slid down a bank into the
Hutt River and towed across the harbour to Evans Bay. The pontoon was U-shaped, 110 ft long and 74 ft wide. Flying boats were winched tail-first into the U so that passengers could step straight onto the pontoon dock. The dock also allowed light maintenance of the
Short Solent flying boats that TEAL used at the time. Evans Bay could become quite rough in unfavourable weather conditions and at least one Solent was damaged during alighting, needing substantial repairs. The trans-Tasman flying boat service ended in 1954, and in 1957 the 400-ton pontoon structure, known as a '
Braby pontoon', was winched on to land, dismantled and transported in pieces to Auckland by road and rail, to be reused by the Air Force's flying boats at
Hobsonville Air Base. The terminal building built for TEAL airways was later used by
Sea Cadets. The building was badly damaged by fire on 15 December 2005 and had to be demolished. The Sea Cadet unit moved into another building on the site that had been a TEAL workshop, then into a new purpose-built building opened in 2007.
Whale sighting Orca and dolphins visit Wellington Harbour fairly often, but whale sightings are much rarer. In July 2018 a juvenile male
southern right whale was seen in Evans Bay. Crowds of people came to see the whale during the week it was in the bay, causing traffic jams. Wellington City Council postponed its annual
Matariki public fireworks display after taking advice about the whale from the Department of Conservation. The mid-winter timing of the whale's visit led some people to nickname it 'Matariki'. ==Demographics==