MORE OFFICE SPACE FOR CITY COUNCIL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 22, 21 October 1919, Page 3

MORE OFFICE SPACE FOR CITY COUNCIL

PURCHASE OF CONSOLIDATED DENTAL CO.'S BLOCK.

For some years past the City Council has felt tho lack of office space in the Town, llall. All manner ol expedients have been resorted to in the effort to make room for the various staffs. Tcmnorary offices' have been perched up i' l the organ loft, the corridors have been divided off and used as offices, and even a portion of the much-needed room behind the stage in the big Town Hall has hna to be commandc-ered as well at times, as part of the Hall itself. A suggestion has been ma.de to utilise tho Concert Chamber as offices, and huild a now Chamber at the back on the site of the temporary quarters of'the Technical College's cooking department; another idea was to build over the yard soace at the rear of the, big Town Hull in Mercer.Street; but the biggest scheme was that advocated long ago by the Mavor (Mr. J. P. Luke), which meant the acauisition of the whole of the land between the Town Hall and the Public Library, and arranging the whole of the accommodation, so as to provide a new Co'noert Chamber away from the racket of the street curs, and' also provide for more office accommodation and room for the extension of the Free Public 'Library. - That- scheme would only involve coming to some arrangement with the -(Education Department, for the only property to be acquired is the block that extends" from Me'.'cer to Wakefield Streets, occupied by the Wellington Education Board itnd the; Wellington Technical College (soon to;,"'vacate that location), The Mayor still llijpes to see that scheme consummated. ' However, the lime was not opportune to build, aiw( office accommodation had to be found adiacent to the Town Hall, ho a sharp look-out was kept for premises. As. the result the City Corporation has purchased the building of the New Zealand Consolida'ed Dental Company on the coiner of Lower Cuba Street and Morcer Street, right opposite the northern frontage of tho Town Hall. The big block acquired extends from the corner right down to the Mercer Street powerhouse. The whole of the block is covered with a substantial brick building three stories in height, which, it is stated, could not be erected to-day. for under .£15,000, yet the city secured tho premises for .£B2OO. '1 hat would not, perhaps, have been possible, but for the desire of the company to have their own freehold property, instead of a city leasehold, which the block is. The company has already purchased i a section of land on the other fiido of tho Town Hull, between the Colummn Hotel block, in Lower Cuba Street, and Wakeftold Street, from Mr. Joseph Joseph, and intend to ercct ft substantial business pile there next year. In the meantime, and as from October 1 they are to be allowed free tenancy of that part of the building purchased bv the council which the company occupies until their new premises are ready for occupation, which may be a yenr hence. The Goodyear Tyre Company s tenancy ends at the end of this month, so that practically the greater part of the building will lie available for occupation right awny bv the council's staff. .- deferring to this matter yesterday, tho Mayor (Mr, J. P. Luke) stated that tho fled Cross Society had been in the occupation of the central portion of the building for some time past, and they would be allowed the room needed whilst the necessity existed. As for the utilisation of the big building generally, Mr. Luke said that thn Cily Engineer hart been complaining for years past that his deimrtmcnt should hnvc separate prpnuses. The municipal functions, competitions May and night), the clamour of the or-' gan, rehearsals, and daytime meetings were all more or less distracting to Ins staff and the sooner the department was out of the Town Hall building altogether the better. So lie proposed to consult. Mr. Morion immediately on his arrival next month, and see whether Ihe whole of the engineer's staff could not bo accommodated in the new build'ng. If that was found to be.feasible, the vacation of the engineer's quarters m the Town Hall would give the necessary relief to the Town Clerk's, the City Treasurer's, and the Returning Officer s staffs.