Central Auckland has many sites and buildings of historic significance.
A small selection of the places open to the public are presented here.
Please note that entry is not necessarily free, sometimes admission is
by donation or koha. Please pay a visit and help keep our heritage places
alive!
Remember to visit the properties in the care of the Historic Places Trust
- you can find out more about those in the Auckland region by clicking
the map at right.
Albert Barracks Wall
Alfred Street (University of Auckland)
The barracks and the polygonal wall were begun in 1846 to
ward of possible attack by Hone Heke. The
fortifications were built by Maori workmen using stone quarried
from Mt Eden. The 3.6m high wall had 'loopholes' through which
soldiers could fire. The barracks covered 9.2
hectares and accommodated a thousand soldiers. Once the barracks
were no longer required, the wall was gradually removed; only
this portion, which lies within the grounds of Auckland University,
remains.
Open: in the grounds of the University of Auckland
One hundred years on, this statue of a trooper in the South
African Boer War, is a reminder of New Zealand troops' first
engagement overseas. The statue is located at the northern
end of Albert Park. Last century the Albert Barracks on this
site housed troops.
The statue's inscription reads simply "Erected by the
members of the New Zealand Battery RA in memory of their
comrades who lost their lives in the South African War."
New Zealand sent 10 contingents to the war, which lasted
from the end of 1899 to 1901, totalling 6500 men and 8000
horses.Of those troops a total of 228 died (from a number
of causes) and 166 were wounded. New Zealand's contribution
to the war cost the Government and public £500,000.
Acknowledgment: City Scene - Auckland City
Council
Allan Kerr Taylor bought this estate in 1849 at the age of
16, naming it Alberton after nearby Mount Albert. He built
a substantial farmhouse in 1863 and later enlarged it to 18
rooms to provide for his family and to entertain. The Pakuranga
hunt rode over the extensive grounds, balls were held in the
barn and parties in the garden. The estate once comprised
220 hectares of gardens orchard, pasture and
scrub. The suburb of Morningside is built on the northern
portion of this; Mount Albert Grammar School and the Crown
Research Institute are on others. Subdivision and sale of
land
were a profitable source of funds to the Taylors over the
years.Now 0.4 hectares with fine old trees and one of the
original fountains remains.
Allan Kerr Taylor was also a considerable landowner in Waimauku,
an investor in kauri timber and other companies and a provincial
and local body politician. He was regarded as the "squire"
of Mount Albert, and gave land for the nearby Anglican church
of St Luke, of which he was Treasurer,
Trustee, Minister's Warden, Sunday School teacher and member
of Synod. He and all his family are buried there.
After Allan's death in 1890 the estate was run by his wife,
Sophia Louisa Davis. Mother of ten children, two of whom died
young, she was an outspoken advocate of votes for women. She
was a keen gardener, growing and selling flowers, fruit and
vegetables, and like her daughters, had a fine voice, singing
in St Luke's choir and performing at local concerts. Her three
unmarried daughters, Winifred, Millicent and Muriel Kerr-Taylor
ran the estate after her death in 1930.
Muriel left the house to the New Zealand Historic Places
Trust on her death in 1972. It contains family furniture and
other possessions,
and some nineteenth century wallpapers.
Open: Wednesday - Sunday 10.30am-12pm; 1pm-4.30pm
Admission: Adults $5, unaccompanied children $2
NZHPT members free (on production of valid membership card)
Completed in 1887 this distinctive building originally housed
the public library, the art gallery and the municipal offices.
Melbourne architects Grainger and d'Ebro won the competition
in 1884 with their design influenced by the French Renaissance
chateaus. This elegant solution to the problem of a sloping
site with a corner of 120 degrees
features two wings with projecting pavilions linked by the
clock and smaller ogee domed towers.
Originally the headquarters of the Auckland Electric Power
Board, this 'skyscraper' was completed in 1930. Designed by
Wade and Bartley, the building represents the transition between
neoclassicism and the 'International Style'. The ornate exterior,
which features unusual pressed and moulded cement panels,
was floodlit at night. New Zealand motifs in the exteriorand
interior decoration are a deliberate attempt to give a New
Zealand identity to the
building. The interior public spaces were decorated with Italian
marble, bronze and carved kauri wood. The new building was
symbolic of the rapid progress made with the help of electricity
when the Arapuni hydroelectric station was opened in 1930.
Recently the building was adapted for retail use.
After many years of debate the Auckland
Harbour Bridge was finally built between the city and North
Shore and, in May 1959, walked over on completion by more
than 100,000 Aucklanders.
The following day, the New Zealand Herald reported
that many of those who walked over the bridge were treated
for blistered feet and also reported:-"a woman who was
leaning over the edge holding her baby, was bumped and nearly
dropped the infant. She burst into tears and made off with
the child into the crowd... a woman who fell over a child
was taken to hospital... dozens of hats were blown off the
bridge and some fished out of the water by the police launch
- eight hats subsequently awaited owners at the Queen's Wharf
police station... shortly after midday an intoxicated citizen
brandishing a bottle of sherry and a cold
pie, became the first man to be arrested on the bridge..."
The original decision to build a four lane bridge proved
shortsighted for within a decade another four lanes had been
added and dubbed the 'Nippon Clippon' because of its Japanese
construction and attachment method.
Today, approximately 73,000 vehicles cross the Auckland Harbour
Bridge each way, each day.
Acknowledgment: City Scene - Auckland City
Council
Footnote: In December 2001 walking tours across
the bridge became one ot the city's tourist attractions.
A new location was chosen during the 1920s for the main rail
terminus. The station building, designed by
architects Gummer and Ford, was constructed between 1929 and
1931 of reinforced concrete with brick facing. It has an impressive
entrance and concourse. Trains and travel were the inspiration
for the decorative motifs used throughout the design, and
stylised wheels were used as rosettes on the
facade. The train platforms have reinforced concrete cantilevered
canopies that are both pleasing and functional.
The railway station was converted to student accomodation
in the late 1990's. A cafe operates in the main concourse,
but most of the buidling is closed to the public. However,
the
platforms and their canopies are still in use, clearly visible
to any passenger or visitor to the station. The main building
can also be viewed from the platforms.
The neoclassical facade of the museum, with the octastyle
portico influenced by the Parthenon in Athens, is an outstanding
Auckland landmark particularly when viewed from the harbour.
The competition for the design was won by Auckland architects
Grierson Aimer and Draffin, and the building was offically
opened in 1929. Constructed of reinforced concrete faced with
Portland stone and bronze
detailing, the facade incorporates plaques commemorating battles
of the First World War. The similarly detailed rear portion,
added by R F and M K Draffin in 1960,
commemorates battles of the Second World War.
The neoclassical facade of the Bank of New Zealand building
was completed in 1865. Designed by
Leonard Terry of Melbourne, the Tasmanian sandstone facade
was originally composed of five bays but was extended to seven
in the 1880s. The imposing Greek revival facade was described
as, "unquestionably the finest in Auckland" when
it was built. In 1986 the building, except for
its facade, was demolished and the site redeveloped. The facade
still makes a stylish contribution to Queen Street.
Bean Rock's historic lighthouse has guarded mariners in the
Waitemata Harbour for the past 130 years, apart from five
months 'off duty' in 1985 to allow for extensive restoration
work to take place.
Originally, the old hexagonal wooden cottage, which sat atop
a pyramid of seven huge kauri logs, was inhabited by sucessive
lighthouse keepers and their families until it was automated
in 1912. The lighthouse stands on a dangerous reef, which
takes its
name from a Royal Navy officer, Lieutenant P.C.D Bean, who,
in the 'HMS Herald', helped survey and chart Auckland Harbour
in the 1840s.
It was hard, dangerous work shipping out and assembling the
heavy timber components of the lighthouse, which threatened
the reputation of its building contractor William Cameron,
as well as the lives of his workmen. But in 1871 at a cost
of £3000, the lighthouse with its English kerosene light
of 350 candlepower was sucessfully completed. Mariners and
shore-bound Auckland residents marvelled alike when the first
powerful beam of the new light - flashing red, white and green
to indicate safe channels -
shone across the water on July 24, 1871.
For a century the 'Old Lady of Waitemata' remained in its
original condition, with few changes apart from its automation
in 1912. But by the 1980s the Auckland Harbour Board and Historic
Places Trust were seriously worried about the
deteriorating condition of the lighthouse and it was decided
to
embark on extensive restoration work. In 1985 the cottage,
with its four tiny rooms and narrow hexagonal verandah, was
removed for restoration work and the base's rotted kauri legs
were replaced by Australian hardwood jarrah and sunk in new
concrete foundations on
Bean Rock.
Then, in a breathtaking operation, the renovated cottage
was winched by crane 30 metres into the air and lowered, then
bolted, onto its new legs.Bean Rock lighthouse was later converted
to solar power and
synchronised with an automatic fog horn. In the mid 1990s,
Ports of Auckland had the lighthouse repainted.
Acknowledgement: City Scene - Auckland City
Council
Look carefully at this picture and you can see a seagull
surveying the scenery outside historic Blackett's
building on the corner of Queen and Shortland streets. Blackett's
lines are pure Victorian, by contrast with it's
neighbours which were designed to late 20th Century standards.
Built in 1879 on land owned by J.C Blackett, the building
is considered one of the finest examples of Auckland architecture
from the second half of the 19th century. Its
architect was Richard Keals and it is one of the very few
buildings of this period in Auckland City. The building was
originally the head office of the South British Insurance
Company and a fourth storey as added in 1912.
It is situated on the corner of Shortland Street which was
formerly known as Shortland Cresent and named after an early
Govener, Sir Willoughby Shortland. Today Shortland Street
contains many of the city's most impressive office complexes,
but in it's early days, Shortland Cresent, rising sharply
to the left from Queen Street was the
object of public criticism.
Dr Graham Bush, writing in Council's history Decently
and in
Order, quotes thus from a sarcastic letter to an Auckland
newspaper of the time: "...the navigation of Queen Street,
the lower end of Shortland Cresent, High Street and Fields
Lane' will be open during the whole winter. A guard of soldiers
will be placed on the banks of the Ligar canal (which ran
through the middle of Queen Street) and at the top of Shortland
Cresent during the winter, to prevent citizens from being
drowned in the one, or breaking their
necks by falling over precipices near the other......"
Acknowledgement: City Scene, Auckland City
Council
This volcanic stone warehouse is the oldest remaining commercial
building in the central city and has had
a number of varied uses including the manufacture of Kiwi
boot polish. The carefully detailed two-storey stone building
with a gabled roof was probably designed by Reader Wood in
1861 as a warehouse for storekeepers Bernhard Levy and
Nathan Goldwater.
This library is one of more than 2000 free public libraries
throughout the English speaking world which were
funded by the Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew
Carnegie. Eighteen of these libraries were in New Zealand.
Opened in 1912 this Edwardian Baroque building with
its ornate central arch on the facade, was designed
by John Park, a prominent Onehunga citizen. The ornament
of the facade includes busts of Carnegie, King Edward
VII and
Queen Alexandra, and the interior contains fine examples
of decorative plasterwork and Art Nouveau style leadlights.
The cathedral is the third church on this site which was
granted by the Crown to Bishop Pompallier in 1841. Designed
by Edward Mahoney in 1884 the present cathedral incorporated
the older stone church as part of the transept. In 1907 Mahoney
and his son Thomas designed substantial alterations to the
church including the removal of the remaining 1845 stone portion.
The spire of this Gothic Revival church is a well-known Auckland
landmark and the interior contains fine Belgian stained glass,
and timber vaulting.
Opened in 1912 this Edwardian Baroque building was designed
under the auspices of the Government
Architect John Campbell. The base is of Coromandel granite
and the second to fourth storeys are Oamaru limestone. Each
end of the facade has a cupola. The foyer has a mosiac floor,
tiled walls, and archways with elaborate keystones matching
those on the exterior. The main chamber has glazed domes.
Currently the building has been redevloped as part of the
Britomart public transport centre.
Although this church was originally intended to serve a parish
that extended into the country the growth of Auckland city
determined otherwise. It remains an inner city
building which has become a centre for the Anglican Maori
Mission. Plans were drawn up by Edward Mahoney in 1879 and
the church was built from 1880-1 of kauri rather than stone,
to reduce the expense. The weatherboard exterior features
lancet windows and a slim spire over the northwest porch.
The lofty interior exemplifies the fine craftwork in the construction
of this wooden church.
Courtville Flats consists of three separate buildings. The
corner and middle Courtville were designed by
A.Sinclair O'Connor, an Auckland architect who specialised
in inner city flats and commercial buildings. They represent
an early example of inner city rental accommodation which
were purpose built as apartments.
Corner Courtville , 11 Parliament Street
Courtville was designed by A. Sinclair O'Connor for Potter
and Stanton, and constructed by Fletchers in 1919. The five
story building has 15 self-contained apartments. The wedge-shaped
design is topped by an impressive corner dome, which emphasises
its prominence in the streetscape. The
facade detailing uses a 'free' interpretation of classical
elements and yet the bay windows and pilasters are expressive
of the concrete construction. The decorative interior lobby
contains an early example of an electric
passenger lift.
Registered as a Category I historic place
Middle Courtville, 9 Parliament Street
The smaller three storied neighbouring block was built in
1914 and was also designed in reinforced concrete by A Sinclair
O'Connor for Patter and Stanton. It was the first block of
self-contained apartements in Auckland. The 12 luxury apartments
were fully furnished and serviced. The building is generally
appointed in a similar manner as the corner Courtville building.
Registered as a Category I historic place
Little Courtville now Braemar, 7 Parliament Street
Built in 1901 as a family home for John Gray, it was named
after a favourite place in his homeland Scotland. In 1906
the home was bought by William Bridson who leased it for some
time to the Jacob Ziman family as a townhouse. Vera Ziman
remembered her childhood home, " two storied in the front
and four at the back comprising six bedrooms, dining room,
drawing room, study, breakfast room, kitchen complete with
gas range, coal range, to which was attached a large boiler
providing gallons of hot water, which was piped throughout
the house, maid's room, walk-in panty, storeroom, two bathrooms,
linen room. There was a hydraulic lift and a system of speaking
tubes between all floors to avoid calling and running up and
downstairs.'
In 1917 Braemar was sold to Potter and Stanton who had built
the neighbouring Middle Courtville in 1914 and converted the
large house into flats and was administered in conjunction
with the neighbouring apartment buildings. In 1994 Little
Courtville or The Annex as Braemar was known, was auctioned.
The present owners converted it back to a family home with
much care and have thoroughly researched the
history of the house and the people associated with it.
The three Courtville buildings are some of the few remaining
apartment blocks in the city and form an integral part of
the important group of protected buildings in this area.
On the journey up from Customs Street to the University of
Auckland, there is a small inner city park, popular with nearby
office workers, at Emily Place. But it is not generally known
that the Emily Place Reserve stretches back to the earliest
days of Auckland. Here, the original St Paul's Anglican church
was built and its foundation stone laid by Capt William Hobson,
Governor of New Zealand, on 28 July 1841.
Its first minister was the Rev. John Churton who had come
to Auckland from Russell in the Bay of Islands, where he was
gazetted colonial chaplain. In that capacity he read the prayers
at the opening session of the Legislative Council in 1846.
The Rev. Churton died in 1853 and later his contribution to
the young town was marked with a memorial obelisk.
St Paul's Anglican church was demolished in 1885 to facilitate
the reclamation needed to improve nearby railway and port
facilities. This required the cutting down of Point Britomart.
The church's replacement 'new St Paul's' was built on Symonds
Street. In 1901, steps were taken to re-erect the Churton
Memorial Obelisk, which had also been demolished.
Auckland City Council was approached and gave £20 with
the remaining money contributed by the public. The replacement
six-metre high monument was handed over to the care of the
city at a ceremony in February 1909. In his acceptance speech,
Auckland's mayor, Arthur Myers, noted that it may have the
first public monument erected to an Aucklander by his fellow
citizens.
The memorial can be seen today, surrounded by trees, at the
resting place between the reserve's two flights of steps.
Acknowledgement: City Scene - Auckland City Council
Designed by Bloomfield and Hunt this 'Chicago style' office
building was completed in 1928. The addition to
the east with the same detailing was made in 1977. The building
is constructed of reinforced concrete and exhibits the three
divisions of 'tall office buildings' as set out by Chicago
architect Louis Sullivan. The neoclassical detailed facades
feature an elaborate cornice. The entrance foyer features
panels of Whangarei marble and pilasters with gilt plasterwork
ornamentation. Of particular note is the
decorative staircase banister. The General Buildings make
a significant contribution to the surrounding streetscape.
Completed in 1856 Auckland's second Government House
was designed by William Mason to replace the former
prefabricated building from England. The building is
classical in style with much of the timber detailed
to resemble stone. For 113 years the house was the viceregal
residence and it is now part of the university.
This dramatic bridge was designed and built between 1908
and 1910 by the Ferro Cement Company of Australasia Ltd. It
is constructed of reinforced concrete. At the
time the 296m long bridge with the 97m main arch was the largest
reinforced concrete arch in the Southern Hemisphere
and is an early example of this type of design.
This distinctive Gothic Revival building, erected between
1865 and 1868, was designed by Edward Rumsey.
Anton Teutenberg, a German immigrant, sculptured the gargoyles
and heads of dignitaries which adorn the facades.
Always used as the High or Supreme Court, the main courtroom
has finely carved panneling and a wooden ceiling
with exposed arches also in Gothic Revival style.
One of the few buildings over a century older that remain
on Queen Street, this former headquarters of the Auckland
Savings Bank was designed by Edward Bartley and constructed
in 1884. It was used by the bank until 1968 and is now occupied
by a McDonald's hamburger restaurant. The facade, inspired
by Italian Renaissance palazzi, is a style associated with
commerce and banking. This ornately decorated building is
an important example of Victorian commercial architecture,
designed to inspire confidence in Auckland's economic prosperity.
Most of the decorative
plaster ceiling and the ornate floor tiling remain.
Designed by A P Wilson this neoclassically detailed brick
building was constructed in 1898 as the head office of the
Northern Steamship Company. The NSSC had been formed in 1881
and absorbed many smaller companies trading around Northland
coasts. A substantial fleet of steamships served ports from
Te Kao in the north, Opotiki in the east and as far south
as Wanganui.
Originally a two storey building with a curved pediment to
both Quay Street and the railway yards behind, it was given
a third storey and a triangular pediment in the 1920s. This
is one of a group of warehouse buildings that give Quay Street
its special character.
For over fiifty years it served as a base for a coastal trade
that centred around the Auckland Province as well as being
the
centeral port for overseas imports and exports for the North
Island. The company also provided passenger services to isolated
communities and carried frieght products of various
industrys, kauri gum, timber, flax and farming.
NZI House, former South British Insurance Building
Corner Shortland Street and High Street
Designed in 1927 by R F Draffin of Grierson, Aimer and Draffin,
this is a fine example of a 'Chicago style' office building.
The facade has three distinct tiers, each with carefully detailed
Grecian motifs. It is clad in English sandstone with a base
course of Coromandel granite. The
central tier emphasises the vertical nature of this early
'high rise' structure. The entrance has ornamental bronze
lamps
and the foyer contains black Belgian marble dadoes carved
in a chevron pattern, and fine ornamental grilles.
Constructed in 1884 on the site of a former hotel of the
same name, the Occidental with its Italianate facade is
a fine example of a Victorian corner public house. It was
built for Edward Perkins, an American sailor who set new
standards in hotel keeping in the city. In addition to the
bar and accommodation, the hotel provided a reading room,
billiard room and a museum of curios, paintings, animals and
birds. This hotel and the 130-year-old Queen's Ferry nearby
make an important contribtion to the scale and character of
Vulcan Lane. Few groups of Victorian commercial buildings
of this age and style remain in downtown Auckland. The Occidental,
frequented originally by speculators, sportsmen and bookies
is now popular with the city's journalists and business people.
This elegant building, completed in 1926, was designed within
the Gothic tradition. The design was chosen by competition,
in which the winners were Lippincott and
Billson. R A Lippincott was an American architect who had
worked in Chicago and then travelled to Australia and New
Zealand. Beneath the tower is a vaulted and galleried octagonal
space with a mosaic floor and piers forming an
arcade. Originally the center of campus life, the building
is a significant Auckland landmark and a symbol of the university.
Designed by architects Hoggard and Prouse, the Public Trust
Building was completed in 1912. The columns of the facade
are based on those of the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli near Rome.
The building was designed as a 'strongbox'
to safeguard valuable papers from 'pillage, fire and water'
and is an early example of steel frame and concrete construction.
The classical forms with ornate capitals and detailing of
the facade make an important contribution to the streetscape.
This significant Auckland landmark, completed in 1929, was
designed by Roy Lippincott, an American architect who had
recieved his training with the Chicago
school architects. The seven storied building exhibits some
of the characteristic features of 'tall office buildings'
as set out by Chicago architect Louis Sullivan. The three
tiers express the various parts of the building, the department
store, offices and
the double-storey arched windows of the Lyceum Club.
Smith & Caughey was established in 1882 by William Smith
and Andrew Clarke Caughey, his brother in law. They had
both emigrated from Northern Ireland to New Zealand a few
years earlier. Their initial success is attributed to Andrew
Caughey's visit to London in 1885 to set up an agency to buy
directly from British merchants. Thus avoiding the charges
of
New Zealand wholesalers. This enabled Smith and Caughey to
offer substantially lower prices and lay secure foundation
of
the company. The 120 year old company is stll run by the Caughey
family today.
This church, the oldest Presbyterian church in Auckland,
was designed by Walter Robertson and built between 1847 and
1850. Originally it was a simple bluestone building with a
gable and window surrounds of Mahurangi stone. In 1882 the
Doric portico and tower were added. Designed by Matthew Henderson
the tower is a prominent Auckland landmark. St Andrew's remains
an important Presbyterian church.
St James' Theatre, designed by Harry White for the Fuller
company, was completed in 1928 and was first known as the
'New Opera House'. It replaced the former Fuller opera house
in Wellesley Street, which burned down in 1926. White was
a specialist in theatre design and the interior of the St
James is an especially successful example of his art.
Over the Queen Street entrance foyer there was originally
a tower with a touret, surmounted with a globe. This tower
was
removed in the 1950s. The theatre's interior was carefully
designed in the Spanish missionary style down to the
individual fittings. The foyers were lit by thousands of coloured
incandescent globes, hidden behind the plasterwork and leadlight.
Although the building was designed for touring vaudeville
acts, it was wired for sound in 1929 and showed its
first film on Boxing Day that year.
In 1945, Kerridge Theatres Ltd.bought the building and brought
back live shows. In 1960 it became part of the Westend Cinema
complex, called the Theatre Centre. Nowadays it functions
as a live music venue.
This Edwardian Baroque building on Beresford Street, constructed
in stages from 1912 onwards, was designed as the Central Fire
Station by Goldsbro' and Wade.
The detail work, the alternating bands of red and buff bricks,
the dressings and decorative lead rainwater heads are notable.
The original design also included oriel windows and gables.
This building was designed for horsedrawn fire engines and
encloses a central courtyard which can be entered through
a large arch, above which the magnificent bell tower with
a copper roofed dome is located. This tower contained the
kitchen and living area. Adjoining was the administrative
block and the stables.
The Pitt Street frontage , designed as well by Goldsbro'
and Wade was built in 1901, a modified example of antipodian
Queen Anne revival style, popular in New Zealand and Australia.
In 1944, the buildings where taken over by the St. John's
Ambulance as their Auckland headquarters.
In the mid 1990s, the building was purchased by a private
investor and acommodates commercial businesses, retail and
apartments.
Designed by the English Gothic Revival architect F L Pearson
this church is built of Oamaru stone. The construction was
supervised by the Auckland architect
Edward Bartley. Sited on the ridge above the Queen Street
valley, this fine Gothic Revival church with its pinnacled
tower
is a familiar Auckland landmark. The interior has double side
aisles with rib vaulting and clerestories above. The wide
nave is a fine example of vaulting.
Designed by Edward Bartley and completed in 1885 this distinctive
white plastered building has a variety of Romanesque and Eastern
decorative motifs, in particular horseshoe arches. The interior
features an ornate decorative plasterwork 'ark' with a stained
glass vault. The main ceiling is a barrel vault which has
stencilled decorations and cusped Gothic vents. This is one
remaining example of ornamental style popular in Victorian
times. The building is also notable as an early example of
mass concrete construction. Until 1969 it was occupied by
the Jewish community at which time it was bought by Auckland
City. Proposals for the site included demolition for street
widening and the building of a hotel, a restaurant, office
building were discussed over a decade. In 1988, the decision
was made to refurbish the building for the
National Bank . In the intervening years the vacant
synagogue had suffered extensive damage.The refurbishment
was undertaken by Salmond Architects,
Devonport, Auckland. The stunning restoration won an award
in 1989 by the Historic Places Trust.
These finely detailed Queen Anne style houses, probably built
in 1897, were commissioned by Cornishman John Endean, a mining
entrepreneur and hotelier, for his children. The three townhouses
are often referred to as the
Doctors' Houses, as No. 25 probably incorporated a surgery
and dispensary on Abercrombie (now St Paul's) Street for
Frederick Endean who later became a Harley Street, London
, specialist.
These shops were designed between 1908 and 1912, T W May
and Alexander Wiseman being the principal architects involved.
They form the longest row of terraced shops in Auckland. Although
designed in groups the shops are united by their uniform height
and bay size, use of
materials and in particular by the stepped vaulted verandah
which was originally supported on cast iron columns.
When the Civic Theatre first opened its doors on December
20, 1929 it was a gala occasion for the whole city. Thousands
flocked to what was billed as the "greatest event in
the Dominion's history of the motion picture industry"
and in scenes of pandemonium the theatres front door was pushed
in by the huge crowd.
The theatre had been built for local business entreprenur,
Thomas O'Brien, who hoped to establish a chain of mammoth
atmospheric theatres throughout New Zealand. He chose an
oriental decorative scheme and the Melbourne architectural
firm of Bohringer, Taylor and Johnson was commissioned to
build a 'glorious picture palace' in Auckland. It was, said
O'Brien, to be called the Civic Theatre and it would have
more than 3000 seats, making it only slightly smaller than
the fabled Radio City of New York.
Fletcher Construction Company undertook the building's construction,
completing it in a record 33 weeks, with much of the decorative
work manufactured off-site. There was a huge rush for jobs
and queues of shabbily suited men lined the
perimeter of the site each morning hoping for work. Its entertainment
and movies were the draw card, but for the public the Civic
Theatre's enduring charm would lie in its wonderfully exotic
interior. To walk through its doors was to enter a world of
prancing horses, buddhas, elephants, greeneyed panthers and
palm trees, set in a Moorish interior of graceful domes, minarets,
latticework and arches silhouetted against an indigo-blue
sky dotted with brilliant twinkling stars.
Sadly, by 1931 O'Briens dreams had crashed, a victim of the
Great Depression and dwindling audiences, and the theatre
was taken over by Williamson's Films Limited. However, it
staged a revival during the Second World War when it offered
some of the best live entertainment in town for the thousands
of American servicemen in Auckland.
The Civic Theatre remained a cinema and centre for live performances
throughout the next five decades, but it's charms had faded.
In 1997 Auckland City Council voted to undertake a $45.5
million restoration project and on December 20, 1999, 70
years to the day from its first official opening, the Civic
Theatre was re-opened to the public in all its former opulent
glory.
