NEW SHOPPING CENTRE

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32233, 27 February 1970, Page 14

NEW SHOPPING CENTRE

Site preparations for the Fendalton Shopping Centre, to be built on almost two acres in Memorial Avenue between Clyde Road and Ota r a Street, have ireached a stage which [ allows construction to be [started. The centre, with ;a floor area of 26,500 sq. ft, is expected to .be ready for business in September or October.

A single-storey supermarket of 8000 sq. ft will be set back 29ft 6in from the footpath. Behind it will be a block of 10 single-storey shops, with professional rooms above. Parking space will be provided for about 130 cars. [ Most of the trees on the i site had been saved, Mr J. T. Turner, a principal in the W. [ J. Turner Family Trust, which !owns the shopping centre, said yesterday. The shopping centre would be a pedestrian precinct, he said. A covered pedestrian way of some 330 ft would give access to the supermarket, shops and professional rooms and would separate the shopping area from the car park. Service lanes fot vehicles to supply the shops would be on the opposite side of the building.

“A post office is proposed for the centre, and although not all the shops and professional rooms have been let, the aim is to have a one-stop centre in which customers can get all their needs.” Mr Turner said that the colour and appearance of the, buildings had met the approval of the town-planning consultant, Miss N. Northcroft, who had been appointed by the Town and Country Planning Appeal Board as arbiter on those factors. Egress and exit plans were to the satisfaction of the Wai-

mairi County Council. The contractor preparing the site had at first begun work at 6 a.m., when the air was still, to minimise dust. After complaints, he had begun at 7 a.m. and had had a water-cart in almost constant use to lay the dust, Mr Turner said.