OLD BUILDING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22469, 13 July 1936, Page 11

OLD BUILDING

DEMOLITION PLANNED EDEN CRESCENT OFFICES FACTORY TO BE ERECTED Erected over 70 years ago, a twostorev wooden building in Eden Crescent occupied as offices by Grey and Mcnzies, Limited, cordial manufacturers, will shortly be demolished and replaced by a large factory and o I lice block. Built in kauri, the old structure. which is closely associated with the early history of the city, is still in comparatively good condition. When Mr. C. Sutton opened a cordial factory on an adjacent site about 7.'5 years ago the building, then practically new, was being used as quarters for officers of the militia. In the 'seventies Mr. John Grey bought out Mr. Sutton, taking up his residence in the building now to be destroyed and erecting the present brick factory at the rear of the site. The new firm, John Grey and Sons, amalgamated with a long-established Thames concern, Menzies and Company, in 1901. and the company has been carried on under the combined names ever since.

From the early days the factory has used the waters of a spring that seeps out of the hillside nehind. Surplus water was once carried by a wooden flume to the base of the old Wynvard Pier in Official Bay, an inlet which at that time stretched to where Beach Road now runs. This provided a water supply for shipping and it was then a common sight to see sailors rolling large casks along the pier to the flume. The structure now to be erected will continue to use this water supply. It will he an extensive two-storey building, with an elaborate suite of offices on the ground floor, and a cellar underneath. The offices will include a largo administrative compartment, manager's office, board room, strongroom and comfortable social quarters for the staff. A hydraulic lift will connect the floors. The building, which will bo of reinforced concrete throughout, is estimated to cost approximately £IO,OOO. The facade "will be carried out in an extremely modern style and finished in colour by the use of tinted cements. Especial" attention is being given to lighting. The building, for which Mr. A. Sinclair O'Connor is the architect, will probably be commenced at the end of July.