Sale of old library confirmed

Press, 28 May 1981, Page 1

Sale of old library confirmed

The sale of the old Canterbury Public Library building to Paynter and Hamilton, Ltd, for $425,00G, for conversion into offices, was confirmed yesterday. “The building will be restored to its former lustre and will be leased as highquality office space,” said Mr Richmond Paynter, the joint managing director of Paynter and Hamilton, yesterday when announcing the new unconditional saie. “Paynter and Hamilton will take possession of the old library early in the New Year, and the refurbished office spaces will be available for occupation in mid-1982,” he said. A glossy silver-covered

brochure advertising the office space to become available through the development proposes that there be 10 suites, including a restaurant suite, in the old library building, and additional office space in the hitherto screened librarian’s old house next door.

“The grounds will be carefully landscaped, using recycled bricks in the entry court and flagstones in the motor courtyard,” the brochure says.

“Overseas there are many examples of substantial older buildings being recycled for new uses, but this is the first time that a proposal on such a scale has been attempted in New Zealand.”