Why is this place significant?

Why is this place Category 1 / Category 2?

The Public Trust Building was completed in February 1926, to a design by Wellington architect Stanley W. Fearn. The plans for the building had been finalised in November 1924 and the contract awarded to Hastings builder J.W.C. Monk. It was built at a cost of £10,925. The site occupied by the Public Trust Building - the corner of Karamu Road North and Queen Street East - was once used for horse sales, while another (unreferenced) source states that it was the site of the residence of one James O'Neil. Stock and station agents Williams and Kettle built sale yards and a rostrum on the site around 1900. The land was acquired by the Public Trustee in 1924, presumably with no buildings on it. The Public Trust Building was one of several significant public building works undertaken in Hastings around this time, including a new high school and hospital and extensions to the post office. The Public Trust Office was established in 1872 by central government to prevent the misappropriation of trust funds upon a person's death. Initially the main task was to administer the estates of deceased persons who had named the Public Trustee as executor of their wills. In 1873 the Public Trust was given the power to administer the estates of persons who died intestate (i.e. without having made a will), to act as trustee of settlements, to manage the properties of living persons and, where empowered by the Court, to manage the estates of mentally ill patients. Later the Public Trust acquired certain duties regarding the estates of minors, the aged and infirm, and the discharging of mortgages when the mortgagee was dead, overseas, or could not be found. It established a network of agencies throughout the country and progressively erected a number of buildings to house its offices, many of which it has now disposed of, although it retains customer centres in some 35 places. A crown entity, it remains New Zealand's oldest trustee organisation. The Hawkes Bay Herald described Hastings' new Public Trust building as an 'imposing modern street reinforced concrete structure' and 'further evidence of the steady growth of the town and surroundings.' The building was designed to allow the construction of a second storey at a later date. The building survived the Hawkes Bay earthquake of 1931, something that can probably be attributed to its reinforced concrete construction. The Public Trust Building was occupied by the Public Trust for many years, during which time there were relatively few changes, and none to the exterior. In 1972, the roof was replaced in long-run iron. In 1978, the ground floor interior was extensively renovated to create an open plan style of office. These alterations involved the removal of many of the original fittings and partitions. In July 1996, the property was transferred from the Public Trustee to Peter Hue Dalrymple and Joanne Dalrymple. The new owners looked to lease the building, but experienced difficulties in securing tenants. By mid-1997 they were considering the option of demolishing the building to create a car park. In response to this threat, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust commissioned a report that considered alternative development possibilities. The threat of demolition was not carried out. In March 2001, the property was transferred to the present owner, Kenneth Wheadon. The Public Trust Building was then altered to create a restaurant and bar, and a resource consent was issued for this use. The ground floor is presently occupied by Rosie O'Gradys Irish Pub.

The former Public Trust building is a two-storied structure, built up to the street boundary on the corner of Karamu Road and Queen Street. Karamu Street is the shorter of the two facades, and is impressive for the two giant order columns that frame the doorway. The columns are set in a recess in the wall, and rise through two floors; they have simple bases, fluted shafts and Ionic capitals. The façade is otherwise quite plain, with flush wall surfaces and a cornice and plain parapet at roof level; there is a patterned dog-tooth moulding supporting the cornice. This treatment continues down the long façade of nine bays to Queen Street, although here, in shallow relief, is a pattern of Doric pilasters between the windows. Spandrel panels between the ground and first floor windows have a frame with a wreath and lions head. The building is Stripped Classical in style, its almost utilitarian character and solid block-like form being relieved by a Classical ordering and subtle decoration. As well as the Public Trust, banks and other financial institutions commonly employed this style through the 1920s and 30s as suitably serious for such business premises. The original drawing shows most of the ground floor as a general office (now a bar), with a safe, and offices at the front, on the north side and at the eastern end. There is an entrance from Queen Street here and a staircase to the first floor; this floor was fully divided into 'letting offices'. There was also a basement which housed the heating plant. That the building survived the Hawkes Bay earthquake of 1931 is indicative of the desire of the Public Trust to build in a substantial manner in an earthquake-prone country; it had done this from the beginning, and especially in the head office it built in Wellington in 1909.

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A fully referenced registration report is available from the NZHPT Central Region office Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions.