OUR PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13484, 10 May 1907, Page 6

OUR PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

" UTTERLY INADEQUATE." IMPORTANT, FORWARD MOVE- . • MENT. ' REPORT TO THE CHAMBER OF | " COMMERCE. The Railways Committee of the Chamber of Commerce reported at yesterday's meeting that owing- to the great rapidity at I which this city was growing the time had ' arrived when -an " important forward move- ; ment by the Government was necessary to cope with the requirements of both Auckland. city and province as a whole, by providing greatly enlarged public facilities in the way of a combined new railway station, post office, telegraph and telephone exchange. The present railway station was utterly inadequate to meet the requirements of the rapidly increasing travelling public, and every year emphasised, that point, while the post office, telegraph office and telephone departments were so cramped in their present buildings that' the puolio convenience suffered severely. Holding, as the Government did, most valuable ,and large section of land, on a very limited portion of which the present village railway station stood, the committee considered that prompt steps should be taken, to keep pace with the times in the 'manner. indicated. What, was required .was 'that all the valuable land, of which the present station occupied a very limited portion, should be utilised as a combined railway station and post, telegraph and telephone offices ; that the present .approaches to the station should be closed, and all the valuable ground utilised for - buildings, with; an entrance to the new station ,by a covered way from Queen-street, and no vehicular traffic should bo allowed to cross Queen-street pavement as at present, as this would, as traffic increased, lead to accident; that the station should have a bold ; frontage to Queen-street suitable to the commanding position, and be provided. with a covered-in right-of-way. By removing the present station there would be abundance of room for the improvements indicated, " and. ihe matter ■ should be vigorously taken in hand by the Government. The present post office site could be. sold, and would realise a very handsome sum towards the new buildings, while all the Departments being together would be" better in touch and easier to work. Too long had Auckland sat quietly down under her present. serious disabilities, and the committee was of opinion that a large forward movement should now bo inaugurated on the lines indicated. - It was. suggested that the Government should be urged to promptly supply the city and province with such public conveniences in the way of new railway station, post and telegraph offices, as would be -in keeping with the requirements of the. largest and most rapidly increasing city'in New Zealand. ' '. . Speaking to the report, the chairman of the committee, Mr. B. Kent, asked .what business man could look at the railway and postal buildings in this city without 'being immediately conscious of the'fact that they were utterly inadequate for. our requirements. He did not like using strong lan-, guage, but they were simply a disgrace to the city and province, and to the Government, which made so little effort to improve them. The railway station was a great curiosity it was inferior to numberless stations .in Great Britain where the population did not exceed 6000 or 8000 inhabitants. At the departure of nearly every : important- train, the discomfort, crowding, and jostling was exceedingly, trying, the porters were sadly hampered in their work, and consequently civility be. came extremely difficult. Then the; arrival of every ; important train meant simply a kind of. free fight to get one's; luggage. He had travelled a great deal, and had never at any time experienced such discomfort and such serious trouble, in getting luggage in any British community- he knew of. The post office was utterly inadequate, from every, point of view, for the requirements -of this city. There was the " Government corkscrew" leading' to -the private letter boxes. The thing was unsightly, and ;' very dangerous, and the Government might just as well provide a stepladder. Then, again, the telegraph room was a bare, comfortless, utterly inadequate, and an inconvenient place, with half the accommodation that the public'had a right to look for. . It was bo small that it was impossible to conduct business there without the very greatest inconvenience to the public, and the greatest annoyance and distress to the officials, who had \ his '," fullest sympathy. ; Where the centre of the city of. Auckland would be in the future no living man ', knew. We were destined, to grow -into a family of* fully half-a-million inhabitants, and in ; due time large public facilities would be required in other centres, but for the present Lower Queen-street was a great centre, and would become greater still. Now was the time to inaugurate a large forward movement in the direction indicated by the Railway Committee's report. The Government that wished to stand : well with this city and province was the Government that would try to meet our needs, and we were not unreasonable in asking the Government not to hamper and cripple our mercantile, requirements as as now being done, but to help, as much as possible the progress of this city. (Hear, hear.) The President (Mr. N. A. Nathan) said there would be differences of opinion as to where the post office . should - be. He did not think it would be a good thing to move the post office further towards the wharves, for while lie agreed that no one could say where the centre of the city would yet be, it would not be down nearer the wharf. The matter should receive very careful consideration. *• Mr. J. M. Mennie thought there would not be room for the combined services at the present railway yard. He moved, "That a special meeting of the council be held at an early date to discuss the mat-, ter." The J Chamber should carefully consider, the matter from all points of view before making definite recommendations to the Government. > . ''- The motion was carried. .