Caxton Press building expansion on target

Press, 3 April 1987, Page 4

Caxton Press building expansion on target

The expansion of The Caxton Press building is well under way and should be completed by spring. Mr Bruce Bascand, a director of The Caxton Press, printer and publisher, said the extensions to the factory were essential and at $250,000 were considered a big investment for a private firm.

The Caxton Press recently acquired a building at the back of its present section on Victoria Street and the letterpress department is now based there.

The post-war building to the north of the historic Caxton Press building had subsided badly and its

demolition suited plans for expansion, said Mr Bascand.

The new two-storey building, which began in February with the sinking of 200 9m concrete piles, will be L-shaped to incorporate the famous front office.

The architect, Willis and Associates, has designed the new building, to blend with the facade of the old, which will remain untouched. Mr Bascand said the expansion on the old site had been criticised. “People say we are crazy and we should move out into the suburbs... but the associations of the site are

important to us.”

The Caxton Press recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Mr Bascand said business was healthy. The new building will also house the company’s first library containing both Caxton Press publications and the publications of its recent acquisition, Pegasus Press. Use of the library would be made available to interested people, said Mr Bascand. To enhance the older flavour of one of Christchurch’s most famous printers and publishers, an 1850 printing press will be placed in the front office.