ORIGINAL BEAUTY RESTORED

Evening Star, Issue 23677, 10 September 1940, Page 3

ORIGINAL BEAUTY RESTORED

POST OFFICE IN CAPITAL CITY Too often it happens that owners of important city buildings can think of their rejuvenation only in terms of plaster ox - paint. These, in their place, ar® both,very good’ mediums, but there are instances where their use can ruin the original architectural conception. Large buildings of stone, therefore, if not practically ruined, are usually left severely alone to augment the deadly dull appearance of the average city. Actually a city should give a permanent impression of brightness as well as of solidity—it is the best of advertising fqr its inhabitants and their wares. It makes pleasant reading, therefore, that the General Post Office at Wellington has undergone a process of sandblasting, which brings up the brightness of the original stone without any additions. The Post Office in the capital city is faced with Tonga Bay granite from Nelson, almost white in colour. Thirty years of soot and grime deposited on its exterior had made the original beauty a forgotten memory, but now it is onee more in evidence. The Work extended over several months, and, in fact, some of the steel scaffolding has yet to be removed on the Panama street side. It is said that the Auckland Post Office is next in line for this transformation.