THE MUNICIPAL CHAMBERS: OFFICES AND SHOWROOMS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18008, 13 July 1928, Page 13 (Supplement)

THE MUNICIPAL CHAMBERS: OFFICES AND SHOWROOMS

The Municipal Buildings, with their long frontage to King George’s Place and ' Latter "Street, and running up to a height of 40ft. from pavement to parapet, present a striking spectacle, and are a credit to the town. The site on which they are erected is a corner one, and cost £I2OO (worth many times that figure to-day.) The .buildings, which are of two storeys, comprise a basement, faced with bluestone, and a ground and a first floor' faced with Oamaru stone. The exterior design is a fine example of the Italian style, the lower floor being finished with rusticated jointed free-stone, and the upper floor \vith a nice arrangement of pilasters and circular-headed windows. The whole of the street elevations are com- • pleted with a handsome modillion and dentil cornice with a panelled . balustrading above. Last year the buildings were added to at the eastern end. Internally, the new structure is arranged to give additional accommodation for the town clerk’s staff, but primarily to accommodate the - important electrical department. This accommodation, consists of a commodious and well-lighted electrical showroom, with large plateglass windows facing King George’s Place. The relative positions of the showroom and the long general office counters are such that the goods in the electrical trading department are ~ Well displayed before everyone who enters the building on ordinary business. On the left of the showroom, on the ground floor, is located the office of the general manager of the electrical department and his indoor staff, and opposite this the handsome general office counters, with adjacent Y ; glass-panelled, up-to-date, self-con-tained offices for accountant- and book-keeper, all placed conveniently for the routine ■work of the officials, while the strong-room fittings are all *. -that could be- desired. The . stares,; which form an indispensable adjunct to the electrical department, are housed in substantial brick buildings ‘ at the back of the showroom, where there is also a testing department. The most striking room upstairs, which is approached by a broad stairway of easy tread, from the showroom, is the Mayor’s room —a luxury, to which Timaru had not before ■ attained. The room is generous in ]• size, and so comfortable* in its furnishings that no mayor need make

The. first floor, which is approached by a wide stairway of easy tread, from the entrance vestibule, is occupied by the Free Lending' Library, whose collection of .books earns favourable comment from all who use it. Conveniently placed also is the Reference Library, to the excellent selection of books in which additions are made at frequent Intervals. Library statistics are as follows:- —

FIRST MUNICIPAL COUNCIL. . EMILY DAYS RECALLED. On Septomber 23, 1864, a petition signed by 113 residents of Timaru was sent to the Superintendent of the Province, in Christchurch, asking that Timaru bo doclnfed a Municipal Borough, and tiie following year Timaru was constituted a Municipal District. Mr, IT. J. LcCren was appointed to preside as

Adult Borrowers .. .• 3415 Juvenile Borrowers .. .. 1000 Student Borrowers .. ... 40 Subscribers (outside Borough) 60 Total number of books, 17,120, made up as under: 6300 class books. 6500 fiction, 2320 juvenile, 2000 reference. ' *

chairman of any meetings held for the election of the .first Municipal Council. A meeting for this purpose was held in October, 1865, in the Mechanics’ Institute, North Street (now - the Electric Institute). Seventeen candidates ofic. ed for nine seats, and the followii,g were elected as Timaru’s first Borougu Council:— H. J. LeCren, merchant. G. Healey, retired. It. Turnbull, merchant. J. Inglis, merchant. F. W. Stubbs, agent S. Headings, surveyor. J. Ellis, carrier. F. .1. LeCren, merchant. ]). MacLoaii; surgeon. The first meeting of the Council was held on Monday, November 25, 1805, at the Royal Hotel; when Mr S. Howlings was elected chairman It was on Ju’v 13th, 1863, that Tiniaru was constituted a borough, and Mr S. Headings (after whom Headings Street, near Caroline Bay, is named) was elected the first Mayor of Timaru. Til 1878, 170 residents of Timaru, representing 379 votes, petitioned the Governor asking that the Borough be divided into wards. The petition was granted, and the boundaries of the loa n were extended. The respective Mayors of Timaru, with their terms of office, are as follows: S. Headings, ISB9-IS7O. . H. Cain, 1870-1873. G. Cliff, 1873-1875. J. H. Sutter, 1875-1876. G. Cliff, 1576-1879.

J. H. Sutter, 1879-1882. J. Jackson, 1882-1886. M. Jonas, 1886-1888. D. M. Ross, 1888-1891. A. Sherratt, 1891-1893. J. Hill, 1893-1.896. J. J. GVandi, 1896-1898. ■ J. S. Keith, 1898-1899. J. Hole, 1899-1901. C. N; Macintosh, 1901-1902, J. Craigio, 1902-1912. T. Hawkey, 1912-1913.

ed a subject of many discussions. For the period 1883-1961 the general rate varied from 4d. to Is. 6d. in the £ ; the rate in 1907 was Is. 3d. and from 19031912, Is'. 4d. The special rate was I-. from 1880 to 1912 with the exception of 1901 when it was only Bd. The levying of a rate of Is. in the £l, as proposed by the Municipal Council, was approved by the Superintendent in 1866, and a similar rate was approved the following year.

W. Angland, 1913-1914. E. R. Guinness, 1914-1917. J. Mailing, 1917-1919. W. C. Raymond, 1919-1921. F. J. Rolleston, 1921-1923. G. J. Wallace, 1923 The Town Clerks have been:—E. H. Lough, D. Virtue, and the present Town Clerk (0. Macliattie). Prior to becoming Town Clerk Mr E. H. Lough was secretary for the Messrs. Rhodes Brothers, and it was he who laid out Rhodes Town. As indicating the way in which the Borough has grown, the following figures will be interesting:—The population in 1874 Was 1,969, - in 1878 it was 3,389, ill 1881 3,917, in 1886 3,754, in 1891 3,663, in 1896 3,613, In 1901 6,424, in 1906 7,615, in 1911 11,280, and at the last census, taken about three years ago, it was between 10,000 and 17,000. The number of houses in 1874 was 348, in 1878, 598; in 1881, 689; in 1880, 09:}’; in IS9I, 681; in 1896, 091; in 1901, 1,217; in 1908, 1,465; in 19li, 2,314; and at the present time the number is 3,533. Between 1378 and 1896, the Borough was divided into three pans—-Rhodes Town North, Rhodes Town South, and Government Town. The capital value of land and improvements in the Borough in 1898 was £539.659. In 1905-6 it was £913,132, and in 1912 it had risen to £2,216,110, while to-day it is £4,656,187. RATES. As in the case to-day, so it was in the early days, the Borough rate form-

It should he explained, however, that the rate in the early days was on the capital value, while to-day it is on unimproved value. The general rate to-day (including Harbour and Hospital Board and Library) is' 4.53 d. in the £, while the special rate is 2.22 d. in the £, a total of 6£d. in the £. The water rate has varied from 2j to 5 per cent. To-day it is Id. in the £ on empty sections and shops, and 2d. in the £ for dwellings. Borrowed capital was inseparable from the growth of the Borough, and with a boldness which did them credit, the Council of 1380 raised the first Borough loan of any dimension, namely £60,000 for a water works scheme—the scheme by which Timaru is at present being supplied with an abundance of pure water direct from the hills. The Borough, like the individuals who lived within'its borders, found it impossible to do necessary work without finding an equivalent in cash, and it is interesting to note how the receipts and expenditure have grown. In 1573 the receipts amounted to £l,BBl, while in 1012 they amounted to £61,075. The estimated receipts for the current year are £52,677. The Borough expenditure in 1873 amounted to £l,BBl, and in 1912 to £63,663, wbi'e this year it is estimated at £82,677. The Borough boundaries were extended in 1910. The building permits in 1909 totalled 122, representing an estimated value of £51,756; in 1912 they numbered 250, representing a value of £106,683, while in 1927 they

HANDSOME PILE OF BUILDINGS EQUIPPED IN MODERN STYLE

numbered 231, representing an estimated value of £139,532. TILE FIRST STORE. It was in, 1857 that Mr H. J. Le Cren sent to Timaru goods with which to stock the first store (at the foot of Strathallan Street) that was opened in Timaru; and a landing service was established. With the advent of commercial life a Resident Magistrate was appointed

(the Magistrates were then known as R.M.’s—not S.M.’s). The first Magistrate in Timaru was Captain Belfield ■\Yoollcombe, R.M. (father of the Misses IVoollcombe of Timaru). He was appointed R.M. in July, 1857, and, like others of his day, was a man of many parts. It was not a case of one man,

THE REAL BEGINNING. The real beginning of the town was on January 'l4,'. 1859, when the immigrants arrived . by, the “Strathallan/’ Shortly .after.,this,; houses commenced to spring pp on--the.,land owned by the Messrs. Rhodes -Bros; This gave Employment to nearly all the carpenters who. had arrived by tho ‘‘Strathallan.” Soon there, was a rapid increase Iff the number of houses, and in the population, and a cry was heard,' as it has so often been heard in recent 1 years,' concerning the need for more houses; Goods imported in 1859 are said to have totalled 310 tons. : . . 1 Rhodes Town grew rapidly; and soon there were about 50 cottages, two? hotels, and two largo stores erected there. Funds were subscribed for the erection of a church and t.wo schools, and a small vessel was chartered to go to Auckland for 80,000 ft. of timber for these, and other purposes. In 1802 steamers, which were subsidised by the Provincial Council, heVped the town and district immensely, one fact which was greatly appreciated being that these boats put an end to periods when the inhabitants had to go without tea, stigar, and even beer, for a week or two at a time. FIRST THEATRE. In. 1876 the. stone, building in Stafford Street, owned by. Mr Richard Turnbull (who was for many years representative of Timaru in the House of Representatives), and,used by him as an auctiqn room, ,was' fitted up as a public hall, aiid it was opened in that year as such. The old Theatre rvas demolished to’make place for’a new one in 1882, the new theatre being opened in 1883, when a performance was given by the Timaru Amateur Operatic Company. This second theatre was remodelled in 1912 to make room for the present fine structure, which has seating accommodation for 1,280 persons. Since then tho Lyceum and Grand Theatres have been provided to meet the needs of. the growing town, in the matter of amusement. The, seating capacity of these is,approximately 700 each... In the matter of buildings ; the old order has given place to the new, the present , substantial and thoroughly modern structures.in the business area, and the. artistic and very ' pretty buildings in the l-esidential area bearing no resemblance to those of the early days when the size of the purse imposed a very effective limit on the extent to which the aesthetic taste could be indulged. There were no buildings of more than two storeys until 1877, when the first building of three storeys was erectea,