PAPAKURA CAMP

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 October 1939, Page 9

PAPAKURA CAMP

NEW TOWN ENVISAGED. QUICK TRANSFORMATION EFFECTED. Possessing communal facilities fully equal to those of the larger provincial towns and providing accommodation that is considered to surpass average housing conditions, the Auckland mobilisation camp at Papakura has now reached an advanced stage of construction. One battalion area, comprising 50 large buildings, is structurally complete and will probably be available for occupation within a few days, while the second similar group is likely to be finished within about a fortnight. Private enterprise and the Public Works Department have co-operated in a building feat that is without parallel in the history of the Dominion. Four weeks ago the camp area was farm pasture; today it possesses more than 50 dormitories, messrooms, stores, and other buildings, and at least another 50 are in the course of erection. Within a fortnight the efforts of up to 1000 tradesmen will have transformed 25 acres into a military township comparable in size and amenities with long-established and important provincial centres. In each of the battalion area, 2.2 of the buildings are dormitories. Other sections provide the messrooms for officers, non-commissioned officers and men, recreational huts, stores, kitchens, and a host of other units designed on modern lines and incorporating every facility for comfort and efficiency. Few towns are reticulated for electricity on a larger scale than water supply, sewage disposal, and the camp, and the intended layout of paths and roadways would be a source of civic pride in any settlement. A number of buildings are embodied in the extensive hospital block, which is to cover about ten acres. Foundations have been laid for the central building, in which there will be a number of beds, and provision is made for the extension of this section by the erection of two wings, each of which will also contain wards.

Nearby will be the dental hospital and the self-contained quarters for nurses, officers, non-commissioned officers, and orderlies. There will also be various stores buildings. The citizens of many provincial and suburban centres will gaze with envy on the camp post office. In addition to counter space for the transaction of business, modern mechanical equipment is to be installed for dealing with telegraphic traffic, and eight telephone boxes will be available. The building will also contain sleeping and dining accommodation for the postmaster and his staff.