POST OFFICES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23019, 22 April 1938, Page 13

POST OFFICES

AUCKLAND PROGRESS

NEW GREY LYNN BUILDING CABINET APPROVES TENDER MANY OTHER OPERATIONS As a further, stag© in the improvement of the city's postal accommoda- | tion, tho Cabinet luis approved the acceptance of the tender of Mr., A. J. Good, of Auckland, for the erection of the new Grey Lynn post office. Advice of the decision was received yesterday by Mr. J. A. Lee, M.P. for the district. The new office, which will cost about £7500, is to be built at the corner of W< illiamson Avenue and Surrey Crescent. It will be of two storeys, with accommodation upstairs for a staff of postmen, who will use it as a delivery centre. Such centres have already been established at Upper Sj-monds Street, Remuera and Epsom, under the Bcheme for reducing the deliveries made direct from the chief post office.

Farnell Renovation The building, which has been designed by Mr. N. Wade, architect,, of Auckland, is expected to be completed before the end of this year. Tho office that it replaces is situated in Groat North Itoad, near the Newton West school, and about half a mile distant. The new site, which is close to a tramway section, is considered to be more convenient for residents of the western part of Grey Lynn. A start has been made with the renovation of the Parnell office, a twostorey brick building which has been little altered since its erection 32 years ago. The exterior is to be given an entirely new appearance I by removing most of the ornamental details, erecting a parapet around the roof, and covering the walls with plaster. The iron on the roof will be replaced with tiles. ® The interior, including the postmaster's living quarters, will be modernised, and more space provided for the staff and the public. The contractors are E. B. Bambury, Limited. * Devonport and Avondale

Good progress is being made with the I erection of a new office at Devonport to replace the present building, which is on a cramped site and cannot be enlarged. The new structure, deigned by Mr. N. -"Wade, is on the eastern side of Victoria ltoad, nearer the centre of the borough. The new Avondale office, the architect for which is Mr. L. S. Piper, is also under construction, and should be finished in a few months The main structural work on the Newmarket office, which is being almost entirely rebuilt on modern lines, is now complete and the interior is well in hand. Other Works Planned

. Major works yet tp be undertaken include the erection of a four-storey annexe behind the chief post office at a cost of about £BO,OOO, tho enlargement of the Ellerslie office, and the erection of a new office .in Wellesley Street West in order to free the whole of the central telephone exchange building in Wellesley Street East for telephone purposes.

In the past two or three years the offices at Remuera, Epsom, Mount Eden, Kingsland and Dominion Road have been modernised and improved. Several new offices have also been established in shop premises in various' suburbs. ,An. extensive building pro-, gramme has been made necessary in Auckland, as in other parts of the Dominion, not only by the growth of postal, telegraphic and telephone business, but also by the volume of work placed upon the department under the authority of recent legislation, especially that relating to unemployment and pensions. •