ESCAPE MAGAZINE ISSUE 27

Beachcomber
Story: Rachel Smith
– from ruin to renewal
It was 1983 when David Bowie climbed
out a window at the Beachcomber.
Today the scene from the movie ‘Merry
Christmas Mr Lawrence’ is memorialised in
the Vinyl Revival corner of The Café, where
you can sip a coffee, play some vinyl and
check out the very window.
The Beachcomber, now home to
Beachcomber Pearl Market, Bergman
Gallery, The Print Room and The Café,
has a history packed with stories, people,
pearls and art.
Located just east of town in Taputapuatea,
the original building was constructed by
the people of Te Au o Tonga as a Sunday
School for the London Missionary Society
(LMS) back in 1845. At the time it was the
second limestone construction in the
country, used for reading, writing and
scripture classes in Cook Islands Maori,
and as a gathering point for the local
community.
“Lots of local characters remember this
building,” say Ben Bergman, owner of
Beachcomber and Director of Bergman
Gallery. Notably, Sir Thomas Davis,
a former leader of the Cook Islands,
attended Side School when it was located
at the site.
When LMS operations ended in 1965, the
Cook Islands Christian Church (CICC) took
ownership of all their church activities,
and in 1967 with a growing congregation
the church investigated increasing the
capacity of the school. Some of the roof
was removed to look at the viability of
adding a second story, then along came
Cyclone Dolly which effectively removed
the rest of the roof.
A complete re-build was proposed, an
idea that was opposed by Makea Nui
Teremoana Ariki on whose land the school
was built. Instead an alternate location for
a larger construction, the Sinai Hall, was
found across the road.
The former Sunday School went on
to house the Cook Islands Legislative
Assembly, the precursor to the Cook
Islands Parliament, before being left empty
and falling into a ruin.
A ruin to what stands today is a large jump
in imagination. It was a process that began
with Joan and David Gragg, who had
experience in renovating similar structures
and had long seen the potential in the site.
“In 1990 we asked Makea Teremoana
Ariki for a lease on the land and building,”
says Joan, with an eye to relocating their
business Beachcomber Ltd. “She agreed to
give us a lease providing we did not tear
the coral walls down. The walls were to us
the focus of our rebuild plan.”
“The structure was sprouting trees from
the top of the walls and trees grew in
the coral floor. Coral stones were piled in
what was the main part of the building
where hurricane waves had dumped them
over the years. David appreciated the
aesthetics of the remains of the building
and decided that he should preserve
every part of the building that spoke of its
history.”
The new Beachcomber opened its doors
in 1992 as a pearl gallery, complete with
the original coral walls and mismatched
window sill height. An art and craft gallery
was added later that year, followed by a
glass studio and a stable to house their
Clydesdale horse. Today, the stable and
the glass studio are long gone, and while
Beachcomber has gone through many
transformations the focus on art and
pearls remains the same.
The Bergman family purchased the site
back in 2001 and under their ownership a
courtyard space was added and a café,
and perhaps most significantly in 2009 a
46 • ESCAPE