CITY IMPROVEMENTS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 426, 10 April 1880, Page 20

CITY IMPROVEMENTS.

Amongst the most important of the improvements about to be effected in this city will be the building of a new police station and Resident Magistrate's Court on the block of ground on which the new law courts are now being erected. The police station will be situated at the corner of Lambton-quay and Whitmere-street, and the front will be a two-storied buildiDg, measuring 92ft. by 35ft. 7in., and 38ft. high. A long one-storey building will connect the front with the Supreme Court, giving a total frontage to Whit-more-street of 174 ft. The station will be of brick, and will be erected on cement foundation piles. The main entrance will be from Lambton-quay, and will give admission to a passage, on one side of which will be a room for the officer-in-charge—13ft. 9in. by 20ft. 9in. —and a clerk's room, 12ft. by 14ft., while on the other side of the passage will be the sergeants' office, lift, by 13ft., and sergeants' mees room, 16ft. by 12ft. There will also be a superintendent's room, 23ft. by 13ft., and a room for his clerk, 12ft. by 13ft., in addition to which there will be a Police Gazette room, 12ft. by lift. 9in., detectives' office, 18ft. 3in. by 12ft., and detectives' bedroom, 18ft. by 12ft. On the first floor there will be two domitories, each 23ft. by 30ft., and five bedrooms, of sizes varying from 12ft. by 12ft. to 23ft. 13in. The one-storied portion of the station Whit-more-street will contain a mess-room, kitchen, scullery, store room, &c, while in the station yard there will be a detached building containing eight . cells, a warder's office and bedroom, cleaning room, padded cells, &c. The cells for males will be 10ft. x B£c, and for females 10ft. x 10ft., and there will be no communication between them. From the time a prisoner is "run in" to the station he will not be seen by the public until he makes his appearance in the R.M. Court next morning, for a passage will lead from the cells to a porch entrance for prisoners in the R.M. Court, this entrance being cldae to the dock.

The new Resident Magistrate's Court will face Ballance-street, and its inside dimensions will be 38ft. 6in. by 29ft., the height to ceiling being 22ft. 6in. It will also be built of brick, with cement foundation piles. Separate entrances will be provided for the Justices and the public, in addition to the porch entrance for prisoners, and there will be suitable rooms

for lawyers, magistrates, and witnesses. An upstairs room, over the main entrance in Bal-lance-street, will afford ample accommodation for the clerks. This Court will only be used for the Resident Magistrate's work, the District Court business being conducted in the small Court now being erected in connection with the Supreme Court. It is intended that the acoustic properties of the R.M. Court will be well provided for, and it is to be hoped it v/ill in this respect be an improvement upon the present Court. Mr. S. Brown has obtained No. 1 contract, which comprises the two-storied front of the police station and the cells, the contract price being £5841. _ The contract for the erection of the remaining buildings will shortly be let, and the whole work will then be vigorously proceeded with. The successful tenderers for alterations and additions to the Wellington gaol are Messrs. Scoular and Archibald, and the new work will, when finished, give an amount of accommodation, the want of which is at present a serious drawback to the proper management of the gaol. In the first place the additions comprise three cells for people under sentence for drunkenness, and a separate ward, and a dining-room. Hitherto " drunks " have been mixed up with the other prisoners, and this has led to abuses, as people only have to get a sentence of 24 hours or so for drunkenness to enable them to be placed in communication with their friends undergoing sentence. Under the new arrangement there will be no communication between them. The other alterations will comprise the erection of anew building 40ft. by 72ft., in continuation of the present gaol. This new portion will contain a day room 16ft. 6in. by 10ft., and a warders' room and a gaoler's office, the former bting 10ft. by 16ft., and the latter 14ft. by 14ft. There will also be two juvenile cells for the purpose of separating youthful offenders from older criminals, these cells being Bft. by 10ft. each. Two clothing stores will be provided, each 10ft. 3in. by 14ft., and there will be a surgery, 10ft. 3in. by 15ft., an infirmary, 24ft. by 15ft., lavatories, &c. In the basement will be four solitary cells, each 7ft. 3in. by 13. Separate doors will be provided for the infirmary and the juvenile cells, and separate yards for the juveniles and prisoners undergoing solitary confinement. The whole of the new work is to be of brick, and the estimated cost is about £2500.

The work of kerbing and channelling Wel-lington-terrace has been commenced, and is being pushed on expeditiously. The channelling is an improvement upon that used for Lambton-quay and its vicinity, being laid down with blocks so shaped as to form the channel complete, whereas hitherto separate blocks have been used for the bottoms and sides. By the new method the labor is lessened, while the appearance of the channelling is considerably improved.