CITY SKYLINE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 143, 18 June 1936, Page 21

CITY SKYLINE.

CONSTANT CHANGES. I EVIDENCE OF GROWTH. PAGES FROM " THE PAST. Auckland's skyline is continually changing and old landmarks*, eiie by one, arc being effaced to give place to new and modern buildings, but to the average citizen the transformation which is taking place is scarcely noticeable. .Architecture of another decade, much of it the work of real artists, is disappearing, but to the man bustling to and from business the wrecking and rearing of buildings _is accepted as a matter of fact, of course. The historical associations of structure which arc here to-day and, perhaps, gone to-morrow, arc of little interest to him unless they are directed to his attention. Hence it is well, occasionally to dip into the pages of the past. Som.; of these pages ■were penned by Mr, William H. Hales, a former district Public Works engineer at Auckland, and they have recently been uncovered from among the maze of documents preserved by the Department. Mr. Hales, before the advent of the typewriter, had to present annual reports to the Government on the work in progress in district, and these he prepared in his own handwriting. The reports are full of interest, as they shed light on the work that was being carried out by his Department over fifty years ago. They recall the reclamation works that were then in progress below Customs Street, where to-day commercial buildings tower high above the streets, and generally speaking bring back memories of other days and spots, such as St. Barnabas Point and 'Britomart Point, which have passed into limbo almost of forgotten things. Mr. Hales in 18S3 made reference to the filling contract which' lmd been entered into in connection with the formation of the old station site. To-day the site is being used as a free parking area for motor cars, most of the buildings which comprised tlio old station have disappeared, and the area is destined to be developed into a bus terminal. -j Damage to Tramway. "A contract for the filling in of the ground required for the railway station within the space bounded by the north side of Custom House Street, the west side of tlio rbfjd to the railway and breakwater, the new retaining wall on the north line of Wharf Street and the retaining wall at the east side of Queen Street was entered into on September 8, 1882, with Mr. W. G.' Bassett," wrote Mr. Hales. "About September 20 the contractor commenced work erecting the temporary bridge oyer the opening in Mechanics' Bay breakwater and laying the railway for the conveyance of material for the filling from the Harbour Board's land at St. Barnabas' Point. When the work was nearly completed, and 20 wagons had been provided, a start was made driving a tunnel through the rock at the point for the purpose of making a gullet from which to obtain the material for filling and breaking | down the rock over the top of the drive. In doing this the workmen put a shot ill the rock under the tramway used by the lessee of the land for the purpose of taking clay to his brickmaking works, and when fired it broke the tramway. After this the lessee applied for and obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court to restrain the contractor from entering on or removing material from the land. Since that time nothing has been done towards the removal of material from St. Barnabas' Point, but a considerable quantity lias been deposited in the reclamation from various excavations in the city. The Harbour Board has also deposited a large quantity of silt dredged from the harbour, and the contractor has completed about four-fifths of the scoria backing required for the inside of the sea wn.11." In 1884 it was reported that the difficulty over obtaining the material from St. Barnabas Point ended in that portion of the filling remaining to be done on May 3, 1883, being deducted from the contract works and the Government handing the* whole work over to. the Auckland Harbour Board, that body haying tmdertaken to' complete the filling. About "30,000 cubic yards of material dredged from the harbour had been deposited inside tho wall, and 20,000 cubic yards contracted for from Britomart Point had been tipped on the Custom House Streeet side of the filling. Another contract for cutting down Britomart Point and Emily Place had been entered into by the City Council in conjunction with the Harbour Board, and the contractor was preparing to run the excavated material in to fill the remaining-portion of the ground for the railway station up to formation level, which filling should be completed by the end of June, so as to admit of the construction of the railway station being proceeded with. Newmarket Workshops. Work in connection with the establishment' of railway workshops at Newmarket was also in progress during Mr. Hales' term of office, and in 1883 he recorded that on March 8 of that year a contract was entered into for the construction of buildings for .Workshops in connection with the Auckland railways. "These buildings," read ;the report, "are ejected on a piece of ground purchased for the purpose near the Newmarket railway station. The contractor is preparing his material and has commenced some preliminary works on the ground, but little permanent work has yet been done." The report of the following year indicated that the contract for the erection of the building was satisfactorily completed in November, 1883. This is yet another indication of the growth of Auckland, for the buildings at Newmarket outlived their usefulness some years ago,-and, on the new railway workshops being erected at Otahuhu, they were dismantled. There is also a reference i:i Mr. Hales' ] reports to the Mount Eden prison, it I being pointed out that the construction 1 of the gaol was being carried out by j prison labour. Excavation for the foundations of one wing of the building at , that time had been completed and the masonry work of the foundations for j the walls built up to ground level—a ] height of about ten feet. 1 I