BUILDING THE NEW NAPIER

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 98, 19 January 1933, Page 23 (Supplement)

not exceed £lOO, the building being completed in .Tune, 1932. It was the first of the New Napier’s principal buildings to be opened and occupied.

Archite«t Praises Citizens. Interviewed by “The Dominion,” Mr. ' R. Natusch, chairman of the Associ- ■ ated Architects of Napier, paid a tribute to the manner in which citizens, builders, and the members of his profession had co-operated in the big task of reconstruction. The earthquake had provided the opportunity, he said, of developing a city from the lines originally laid down by the Rev. Mr. Colenso, who took a prominent part in the lay-ing-out of early Napier and who planned the settlement on the lines of a small English town. As had been the case with many another town, no provision was made for the traffic of the future, and the streets were much un- , dec the width now considered desirable. The fire following the upheaval had wiped out practically the whole of the business area, and, in the great majority of cases, the owners had agreed to give up portions of their properties to allow of street widening and the creation of service lanes. Thus the task of the architects, from the viewpoint of town planning, began in favourable circumstances, and the best possible use could be made of the available sites. One particularly satisfactory feature of the past 18 months, Mr. Natusch said, was that the architecture of Napier had been largely carried out by Napier firms. Full co-operation existed among the architects, who had held frequent -meetings with business men and property owners and had discussed the problems ahead, not only as they applied to individual cases, but as they affected the centre as a whole. Naturally, business had been exceedingly brisk, and there were now eleven firms of architects in Napier, several more than before the earthquake. Simple, with Minimum Cost. \ The designs chosen for the buildings had a certain general similarity that was the result of a common search for something simple and of minimum cost, yet embodying all possible precautions

against a recurrence of the disaster. Stucco finishes were being used almost exclusively, the necessary relief being obtained by the addition of inlaid or slightly raised ornamentation in various colours. When the first buildings were constructed on those lines they encountered a certain amount of public criticism on the grounds of their unusual appearance, but any traces of the

Some Impressive Figures

bizarre had been eliminated as the streets filled. Criticism had then been replaced by admiration. Progress up to Present

In building achievement, figures talk more eloquently than words, and the figures for the New Napier are already impressive. The following table contains returns of buildings, quarterly ancj, in full, up to the end of December, “The Dominion” being indebted to Mr. E. Grant, building inspector for the Napier Borough, who has made available the latest totals:— More Than £BOO,OOO. Much building work, ineluding extensive repairs to houses, was carried out after the earthquake without an official record being kept. In consequence the exact value of Napier’s reconstruction activities cannot be ascertained. The value of the permits taken out since the earthquake is £703,877, and the cost of works completed without permits raises this total to £862,739. The following table shows the value of work undertaken through borough permits, the totals being correct to the nearest £:— Permanent. Temporary. mtwy mtwy Dwellings. mtwy mfw mfw Totals. *■ “ mfwy mfw fww

Total 619,428 37,802 46,647 702,877 Building carried out by the Public Works Department and therefore not covered by the borough’s building permits increases the above totals as the following summary indicates: —- .£ Permanent (permits) .. .. 619.428 Temporary (permits . . . . 37.502

Dwellings (permits) .. .. 46,647 Relief funds .. . .. t .. 125,500 Post Office (P.W.D.) .. 22,000 P.W.D. house repairs . . .. 9,362 Intermediate School (P.W.D.) 4,000 H.B. County Council (no (permit) 3,000 £867.739 i Less estimated duplication between relief funds and permit total for dwellings 5.000 £862.739 Monthly and quarterly returns since February 3, 1931, are as follow, the first quarter of 1931 being unavailable as a result of the loss of records at the time of the earthquake. 1931 First quarter £ January .. February .. 5,133 March ~ .. 23,030 £28,163 Second Quarter . £ April .. .. 10,727 May .. .. 25.754 June .. .. 28,438 £64,949 Third Quarter. £ July .. .. 80.011 August .. .. 23.176 September .. 59.141 £162,328 Fourth Qu’arter. £ October .. 11.183 November .. 15.936 December .. 6,862 £33,981 1932 First Quarter £ January . . 48,079 February . . 7.131 March . . 25,728 £80,938 Second Quarter £ April .. .. 15,282 May .. .. 71,306 June .. .. 9,969 £96,557 Third Quarter , £ July .. .. 31.419 August .. .. *92,740 September . . 51,343 t£ 175,502 Fourth Quarter £ October .. 37,436 November . . 26,307 December .. 16.78 S An impressive tally of reconstruction is provided by recent building figures

covering eight of the principal business streets in Napier. A number of the buildings listed below are referred to in various articles in this supplement, but tlie complete statistical record serves to show at a glance the magnitude of the financial task involved in the building of a new city. The latest available figures are as follow:— HERSCHELL STREET.

February £ £ 5,133 ' £ £ 5,133 March 1.600 18.975 2,455 23,030 April 3.782 5.310 1,629 10,727 May 19,373 2,197 4,214 25,784 June 24,672 053 3,113 28,438 July 74,740 3.512 1,759 80,011 August 21.148 290 1,731 23,176 September 55,949 858 2,334 59,141 October 0,354 550 4,278 11,183 November 12,799 312 2,825 15,936 December 6,600 — 262 ' 6,862 January 44,174 — 3,904 48,079 February 4,737 —— 2,394 7.131 March 23,542 — 2,186 25.728 April 13,963 —— 1,319 15.282 May 70,522 —— 784 71,306 June 9,270 — 699 9,969 July 29,278 —— 2,141 31.419 August 91.965 — 775 92.740 September 50.958 — 385 51.343 October 34?795 — 2,669 37.464 November 21,490 37,802 4,791 26.287

T. Parker £ 2.070 ]<\ Rowe Motors 349 Total 2.419 HASTINGS STREET Masonic Hotel £ 41.000 Market Reserve •.. • • 26.700 Criterion Hotel 18 500 Plaza Theatre ............ 10.300 Abbott’s Building .......... J C- Brvant /. 7,769 Ritchie Estate 5,792 F. Thorp 4.514 T Parker ’... 4.500 Bank of Australasia Higgins Est. (Bestall’s) R. Northe and Sons TTarston’s ... 3.100 3.078 3.000 2,998 Mrs. K. Condon (McClurg's) . TT M Bennett ........... 2.780 2.700 E llvde 2.489 2.442 1.S60 Higgins Est. (Coni. Bank) .... M<Tjcrnon Estate 1.701 1,357 1,352 760 255 G Cnv . 1.400 158.703 BROWNING STREET H.B. Comity Council Williams and Kettle H.B. Edm-atkjii Board £ 3.000 2.335 2.000 Torn 1 7.335 HALTON STREET 0 £ 6.267 Smith and Chambers Chisholm and Co. 2.219 2.137 Total 10.623 TENNYSON STREET Bowman Estate £ 14.000 linily Telegraph Co 10 276 Central Fire Station Kainpoi Wool 1 on Co 8.370 5.300 AV Kinross White ........ 5.000 Public Trustee 4.300 Ross and Glendining 3.420 Sainsbury. Logan and Williams Murray, Roberts Mrs T. C. Moore 3.375 3.170 2.550 A. McGlashan 2.540 TI.B. Building Societv ...... 2.289 At. Ta. Gleeson 1.995 Mason and Bunn 1.700