FORD COMPANY’S FINE NEW HOME IS NOW READY FOR USE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 145, 20 June 1931, Page 28 (Supplement)

FORD COMPANY’S FINE NEW HOME IS NOW READY FOR USE.

WITH 50,000 SQUARE FEET of floor space, a plant reorganised to the height of efficiency, and a splendid lighting and ventilation system, the new home of Ford Motors (Canterbury), Limited, to be opened on Monday, will be second to no other garage in the Dominion. The entrance is from Tuam Street and there is also a 290 feet frontage to St Asaph Street. Where once the bandsaws and planing machines howled and bit into huge logs, there now stands the most efficient of garages and repair shops. The garage takes the place of the premises occupied for many years by Williams, Stephens, Ltd., timber merchants. At the Tuam Street entrance, there is an open space of 90 feet square. In the centre of this, a petrol service station has been built and the west side has been roofed over. There, cars will be washed and three hydraulic hoists will permit of speedy oiling and greasing. The main part of the garage has been rebuilt from the old machine shop and joinery that has been standing on the site for more than twenty-five years. The splendid material and workmanship put into that building has permitted the architect of the Ford Garage (Mr Cecil Wood) to use it as a substantial basis for his scheme of reconstruction. A very considerable addition has been made to the original building on the St Asaph Street side. The ground floor, which was well laid in concrete by Mr R. Field, is divided into three main bays. Each has a high gabled roof and ample skylight space, giving splendid light and ventilation. The floor is also brilliantly lit when necessary by fifty-four 200-watt floodlights. The east bay is to be occupied by used cars. The centre bay is the actual garage space and the west bay is the repair department, where there is the most efficient workshop in New Zealand.

The showroom is in the centre of the Tuam Street end of the building. There is space for twenty cars and trucks and the surroundings are most unusually attractive. The big pillars, which supported the first floor of the old building, have been encased in green panelling. The whole garage is carried out in this colour scheme and the effect is one of striking cleanliness.

The main offices are roomy and well-equipped. Glasspanelled rooms for the departmental heads are included and the partitions, doors, and counters are carried out in polished figured rimu. One feature is a big strong-room, 22 feet by 6 feet. The lighting, which was installed throughout the whole building by Turnbull and Jones, Ltd., is diffused. The foreman’s office is raised five feet, giving him a commanding view of the garage and workshop. The mechanics’ locker room is a large room, with a big table in the middle of it. Each man has generous locker space. An alcove with sinks and gas urns is attached. Another large room, 99 feet by 77 feet, on the first floor, is being used at present as a store for second-hand parts, obtained from the dismantling of old cars. This room will eventually be used as a paintshop. It is served by a run-way from the main entrance ill Tuam Street.

To celebrate the completion of this big undertaking, a smoke concert was held on Thursday evening, the General Manager of the Ford Company (Mr G. Duncalf) presiding. There was an attendance of more than 100. The company will move over on Monday.