FINISHING TOUCHES

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 986, 31 May 1930, Page 6

FINISHING TOUCHES

AUCKLAND’S NEW STATION, A BEAUTIFUL BUILDING COMPLETE BY SEPTEMBER Noise and activity are rapidly giving way to beauty at the new railway station. By September the last of the cleaning up will have been done, the marble floors will have been polished and everything will be ready to take the stream of passengers which will flow continually through the huge building Now that the scaffolding has been removed from the vast lobby of the station it is possible to admire its beautiful design and artistic colour scheme, as well as its spaciousness. Workmen are at present completing the marble floor and an inquiry office which will be just inside the two main doors at the entrance. The four pillars of Whangarei marble, two at either end, are now to be seen in their full beauty. The whole of the lobby will be illuminated by a system of concealed lighting One of the most noticeable features of the new station is the brick-work This has been done by master craftsmen and is very fine indeed. The arches above the passage-way from the lobby to the concourse have not been equalled in any building in Auckland. This may also be said of the brick-work throughout the whole of the station. SOON BE FINISHED All the materials required for finishing the building are now on the spot, and. it is now a question of placing them in position. The granite facings along the ramps leading up from Beach Road, doors, windows, floorings and ceilings, will soon all be finished. Ticket and luggage offices are being partitioned, counters placed in the various shops on the concourse, telephone boxes and the post office, luggage shutes and subways—all are receiving the finishing touches which will make the Auckland station the most up-to-date in New Zealand. The parquet floor is being laid in the restaurant. This work is being done -with that meticulous attention to detail which is characteristic of the whole building. Special wood is being used—the ends and the sides all being tongued and grooved. By July a start will be made with the last of the arrival platforms. At present the stonemasons, who are shaping the blocks of Coromandel granite, which has been used so extensively on the foundation of the station and the ramps, are installed there, but all the granite will have been shaped by the end of June. Outside the building there are the same signs of completion. Roadways and bridges are finished as far as the essentials are concerned, and another three months will see the station ready for use.