NEW R.N.Z.N.V.R. HEADQUARTERS

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26813, 19 August 1952, Page 6

NEW R.N.Z.N.V.R. HEADQUARTERS

CONCRETE BUILDING PLANNED TENDER OF £43,939 APPROVED A Christchurch construction firm’s tendef for the erection of new headquarters for the Canterbury division of the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve has been approved by the Cabinet. The tender of. £43,939 by Wiseman Construction, Ltd. is for a building of reinforced concrete frame construction with concrete block panelling, and a concrete tile roof. H.M.N.Z.S. Pegasus, which is the official- designation of the Canterbury division’s headquarters, will be a single storey building with a floor space of 18,000 square feet. It will be erected on a site between Victoria and Montreal streets, and has been approved bv the City Council housing and townplanning committee. Mr V. A. Wiseman, head of Wiseman Construction, Ltd., said yesterday that he hoped to be able to complete the building in seven months. XTork would start in about two weeks. The contract price included the asphalting of a parking area, and the provision of soil for garden plots. The lectur? rooms would be distempered, and" the galley would be plastered as it would have to be enamelled.

Originally tenders for the supply and. erection of a prefabricated steel or aluminium building were called by the Tenders Board of the Ministry of Works. Tenders were to have closed on May 27, but the closing date was later extended to June 24. Mr Wiseman said yesterday that each contractor was asked to submit plans and specifications for a headquarters building. Tenders are reported to have been received from Britain, Denmark, and other parts of New Zealand besides Christchurch.

When the new building is erected the Canterbury division, which has a strength of 23 officers and 180 ratings, will move from its temporary headquarters in rooms in McKenzie’s Building in High street, which have been provided by the Southern Reserve Wing of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The division’s old headquarters on the top floor of a brewery malt store in St, Asaph street, which it had occupied since ‘ early in 1928, were destroyed by fire on May 16.