NEW POST OFFICE

Taranaki Daily News, 9 December 1931, Page 9

NEW POST OFFICE

BUILDING IN DUNEDIN. STRUCTURE TO COST £200,G00. Tenders are now being called for the new post office which is to Ibe built in Dunedin. It is estimated that the cost of the building itself will exceed £200,VOO, while the value of the site and foundations will be over £lOO,OO. The post office will occupy a whole block, fronting on Princes, Waters, Bond and Liverpool Streets, with the main entrance in Princes Street. The building will have eight floors, a basement, and sub-basement. The type of construction is steel frame surrounded by concrete, offering the maximum resistance both to fires and earthquakes. It is thought that the authorities intend to house all the Government departments, as far as possible, in this building; at present they are very scattered in Dunedin, and centralisation will fie a great advantage. 'The front elevation, on to Princes Street, is in the classical style, with Corinthian columns going up about four stories. These columns will be surmounted by capitals. Coromandel or other approved New 'Zealand granite is specified up to the second floor. Above there, to the top, the specification calls for Kairuru marble, .from Nelson, or stone produced from quarries at Putaruru. The design, on the whole, is plain, with little in the way of cornices or parapets. According to the specification, the contractor must include in his price the sum of £18,090 for lifts. There will be six passenger lifts, one freight lift and one letter lift. New Zealand materials have been specified wherever possible.