DISFIGURING DEVON STREET.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 December 1922, Page 4

DISFIGURING DEVON STREET.

The class of building going up in dome parts of Devon Street will not add to the architectural beauty of New Plymouth, and the thought occurs whether the Borough Council should not exercise a little more supervision over the erection of new Tuildinge, or alter the building by-laws so far as shop and office buildings are concerned, providing that they conform to a certain standard. The town is gradually being rebuilt. Some fine buildings have been erected, and several more are projected, and steps should be taken now to prevent others going up that would detract from the appearance of the town. Amongst other improvements contemplated, the Bank of New Zealand is making considerable additions to its wooden premises. We. would respectfully submit to the management that it is showing little confidence in the ! future of, and paying a poor compliI ment to, a town in which it has such a : large clientele—a town which must in a few years be the fourth or third town in the North Island—by patching up an old wooden building. We suggest that whilst about it the management erect a substantial building on its central site in keeping with the importance of the institution and of the town. The bank is a semi-public concern from which the community may reasonably look for a. lead and an example. The branch is probably one of the biggest and most prosperous in the country, and the question of the availability of the money for a permanent building is, of course, not in question. To patch up the old building seeme, -in any case, an inadvisable policy, for in a few years’ time it must require further patching. We trust that customers of the bank will take up the matter with the management before the repairs are put in hand with a view to having a permanent building erected that will grace the main street and not further disfigure it.