Lower Hutt Civic Centre Historic Area

Woburn Road, Queens Drive, Laings Road and Myrtle Street, LOWER HUTT

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Dating to the 1950s the Lower Hutt Civic Centre area is a rare example of successful town planning using the garden city concept. Four buildings of diverse purpose, a church, a library complex, a town hall complex and a horticultural hall, show an integrated design in concrete steel and glass by two noted Wellington architectural firms. All four buildings are located in or adjacent to Riddiford Park, which is of historic value in its own right. This park was the first public park created for the enjoyment of the people Lower Hutt in 1923. However, it was not until 1945 that a Civic Centre Committee was set up to plan for major civic amenity buildings within the park. Mayor P. Dowse was instrumental in seeing the project through to completion from 1950 onwards. The buildings were progressively opened between 1953 and 1959. They attracted immediate public attention, particularly St James's Church which, in 1953, was the most radical modern church design to be seen in New Zealand. The War Memorial Library complex was one of the largest Second World War community memorial projects subsidised by the government and contains important art works in the form of three large murals by the prominent portrait artist, L, V. Mitchell. These murals were an integral part of the war memorial design, complementing external sculpture in bas relief by J. W. Gawn.

Lower Hutt Civic Centre Historic Area. Town Hall and Administration Building | A James | 24/09/2021 | Heritage New Zealand
Lower Hutt Civic Centre Historic Area. Lower Hutt War Memorial and Library CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Image courtesy of www.flickr.com | Nicholas Cull | 15/01/2014 | Nicholas Cull
Lower Hutt Civic Centre Historic Area. St James' Church CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Image courtesy of www.flickr.com | Nicholas Cull | 15/01/2014 | Nicholas Cull

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Area

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

7520

Date Entered

6th June 2003

Date of Effect

6th June 2003

City/District Council

Hutt City

Region

Wellington Region

Extent of List Entry

The Lower Hutt Civic Centre Historic Area has road boundaries to the south, west and north. These are clockwise, Woburn Road, Queens Drive, Laings Road. To the east, Myrtle Street forms the boundary then continues around the Club grounds, and from there on, separates private property from Council-owned and church owned land back to Woburn Road. A map showing the boundary is part of the Registration Report.

Location Description

The Lower Hutt Civic Centre Historic Area has road boundaries to the south, west and north. These are, clockwise, Woburn Road, Queens Drive and Laings Road. To the east, Myrtle Street forms the boundary as far as the drive into the Hutt Bowling Club; the boundary then continues around the Club grounds, and from there on, separates private property from Council-owned and church-owned land back to Woburn Road. The boundary is illustrated on an Historic Area plan in the Appendix.

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