The former Council Offices and Fire Station in Grey Lynn, Auckland is an unusual example of a dual-purpose municipal building whose striking design represents an expression of civic pride. It was erected in 1889 by the Newton Borough Council, which was formed to take over aspects of local administration from the Newton Highway Board in November 1885. In the 1870s the Highway Board administered 366 hectares (905 acres) with 16 houses, remain outside the boundaries of Auckland City when the adjacent suburbs of Ponsonby, Grafton and Karangahape, were gazetted as wards in 1882. After a significant increase in the population of the suburb during the economic boom of the early 1880s, the formation of a borough council was followed by a decision to build fitting premises from which to conduct municipal business. The new building was also intended to house the newly-created Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded in early 1889.
The Newton Fire Brigade was established two years after the Borough's connection to Auckland City Council's water supply in 1887. It took over responsibility from the Insurance Companies Association's Fire Patrol and Salvage Corps, which patrolled areas outside Auckland. The Auckland City's Fire Brigade's obligations extended only as far as the city boundaries. Until construction of the new premises, the Newton Brigade held its meetings and stored its equipment at the City brigade's Karangahape Fire Station. The day-to-day affairs of the Borough were administered from offices on Great North Road.
The site chosen for the new building lay close to the boundary with Auckland City, on elevated ground overlooking most of the borough. The land had formerly been part of the 127 hectare (314 acre) suburban farm, 'Surrey Hills'. Divided into urban lots in 1883 as Auckland's largest single subdivision, the Surrey Hills Estate was to make up a third of the area of Newton Borough. The subdivision was the cause of one of the earliest debates over town planning and acceptable subdivision standards.
Erected as a dual-purpose building, the structure was designed by Auckland-based architect John Mitchell. Trained in Northern Ireland, Mitchell had migrated to New Zealand in the previous year and the building is likely to have been one of his first commissions in the colony. Mitchell's design can be seen to reflect both the comparatively modest means of the Council, but also its desire to make a visual impact and reinforce its separate municipal identity. Initial plans were approved in March 1887, when the building was described as being 'of neat design, surmounted by a bell tower'. However, tenders for construction called by Town Clerk John Currie appear to have been rejected as too expensive, forcing Mitchell to make compromises with the design and reducing its cost by ₤50 10s. Fresh tenders were called closing 29 April 1889. W.H. Barriball's price of ₤343, the lowest of the six received, was accepted. The building appears to have been erected within a four month period from May 1889.
The Council held its first meeting in the completed building on 2 September 1889, having only two weeks earlier finalised purchase of the land upon which it stood. Mayor Ambury took the opportunity to congratulate the ratepayers on the erection of a Council Chamber and Fire Brigade Station at a low cost of ₤420, that amount - along with the ₤125 price of the allotment - being paid out of Council revenue. The building was pronounced by Mayor Ambury as architecturally second to none in Auckland. The ground floor was occupied by the fire brigade, with most of the space taken up by a fire appliance room. The upper floor accommodated municipal offices, probably consisting of a town clerk's office and a council chamber, the suggested minimum requirements for such buildings. Access to the upper floor was via an external staircase as no internal access connected the two floors. A bell tower on the southern side of the building provided an alert when fires broke out.
The Borough's name was changed to Grey Lynn in August 1899. Among its achievements, the new Council was to become notable as the first municipality in the province to enact bylaws against the construction of substandard housing. Some 15 years after its formation, Grey Lynn Borough merged with Auckland City. In March 1914 the Auckland Fire Board - which had come into existence under the Fire Brigades Act in 1906, took over the Borough's fire stations. The Williamson Avenue premises ceased to be used as Council offices in July 1914 and were formally sold to the Auckland Fire Board in March 1917. Alterations - including an addition to the eastern end of the building - were undertaken in August of that year to house a 1916, 30 h.p. Daimler motor tender and to provide accommodation for five firemen. The bell tower had also been removed prior to 1915. These modifications reflect the growing professionalisation of what had previously been a volunteer force, and the adoption of new technology.
Upon completion of the Western Districts Fire Station in Ponsonby in 1923, the Grey Lynn Fire Station closed. The building was sold in January 1924 to John Fenton, a waterworks foreman who let the ground floor to the New Zealand Carriage Painting Company. Margaret Teasedale bought the property a year later, extended the single-storey addition to the east and used the building as a shop with residential accommodation and bakehouse. The building was sold in 1941 to retired farmer James Roche and converted into three flats. Auckland architect Reginald Dewar Morgan purchased the property in 1953, selling to its current owner, Landmark Incorporated, in January 1973.
Landmark, an incorporated society whose purpose is to preserve New Zealand's heritage, was formed in 1972 specifically to purchase the distinctive Council Chambers and Fire Station that contributed to the identity of the locality. An independent society formed by a group of Auckland town planners, lawyers, architects and engineers, Landmark recognised that large-scale urban redevelopment in the 1970s had the potential to destroy as yet unrecognised heritage buildings. The building was extensively refurbished and opened as a restaurant in April 1974. A replacement tower built in 1985 restored some of the structure's landmark qualities. The building continues in use as a café/restaurant.
Today, the former Council Chambers and Fire Station building forms an early example of combined fire station and municipal offices within a single building. Similar but later surviving examples are the former Lyttelton Fire Station and Public Library (NZHPT registration # 7524, Category II historic place) built across the street from the Lyttelton Borough Council Chambers in 1901; and the former Mt Eden Borough Council Offices and Fire Station (1912-1913) in Valley Road, Auckland, although the latter appears to have been constructed as two separate buildings and altered to form a single conjoined structure. Other fire stations registered by the NZHPT include: the former Provincial Buildings Fire Engine House in Nelson,, dating from 1866 (NZHPT registration # 257, Category I historic place); the former Uawa County Council Building, constructed in 1922 and later used by the Tolaga Bay Volunteer Fire Brigade (NZHPT registration # 3560, Category II historic place); the former Auckland Central Fire Station dating from 1902, now the St John's Ambulance Building (NZHPT registration # 117, Category I historic place); and the Wellington Central Fire Station, constructed in 1939 (NZHPT registration # 3645, Category II historic place).
The Newton Fire Brigade was established two years after the Borough's connection to Auckland City Council's water supply in 1887. It took over responsibility from the Insurance Companies Association's Fire Patrol and Salvage Corps, which patrolled areas outside Auckland. The Auckland City's Fire Brigade's obligations extended only as far as the city boundaries. Until construction of the new premises, the Newton Brigade held its meetings and stored its equipment at the City brigade's Karangahape Fire Station. The day-to-day affairs of the Borough were administered from offices on Great North Road.
The site chosen for the new building lay close to the boundary with Auckland City, on elevated ground overlooking most of the borough. The land had formerly been part of the 127 hectare (314 acre) suburban farm, 'Surrey Hills'. Divided into urban lots in 1883 as Auckland's largest single subdivision, the Surrey Hills Estate was to make up a third of the area of Newton Borough. The subdivision was the cause of one of the earliest debates over town planning and acceptable subdivision standards.
Erected as a dual-purpose building, the structure was designed by Auckland-based architect John Mitchell. Trained in Northern Ireland, Mitchell had migrated to New Zealand in the previous year and the building is likely to have been one of his first commissions in the colony. Mitchell's design can be seen to reflect both the comparatively modest means of the Council, but also its desire to make a visual impact and reinforce its separate municipal identity. Initial plans were approved in March 1887, when the building was described as being 'of neat design, surmounted by a bell tower'. However, tenders for construction called by Town Clerk John Currie appear to have been rejected as too expensive, forcing Mitchell to make compromises with the design and reducing its cost by ₤50 10s. Fresh tenders were called closing 29 April 1889. W.H. Barriball's price of ₤343, the lowest of the six received, was accepted. The building appears to have been erected within a four month period from May 1889.
The Council held its first meeting in the completed building on 2 September 1889, having only two weeks earlier finalised purchase of the land upon which it stood. Mayor Ambury took the opportunity to congratulate the ratepayers on the erection of a Council Chamber and Fire Brigade Station at a low cost of ₤420, that amount - along with the ₤125 price of the allotment - being paid out of Council revenue. The building was pronounced by Mayor Ambury as architecturally second to none in Auckland. The ground floor was occupied by the fire brigade, with most of the space taken up by a fire appliance room. The upper floor accommodated municipal offices, probably consisting of a town clerk's office and a council chamber, the suggested minimum requirements for such buildings. Access to the upper floor was via an external staircase as no internal access connected the two floors. A bell tower on the southern side of the building provided an alert when fires broke out.
The Borough's name was changed to Grey Lynn in August 1899. Among its achievements, the new Council was to become notable as the first municipality in the province to enact bylaws against the construction of substandard housing. Some 15 years after its formation, Grey Lynn Borough merged with Auckland City. In March 1914 the Auckland Fire Board - which had come into existence under the Fire Brigades Act in 1906, took over the Borough's fire stations. The Williamson Avenue premises ceased to be used as Council offices in July 1914 and were formally sold to the Auckland Fire Board in March 1917. Alterations - including an addition to the eastern end of the building - were undertaken in August of that year to house a 1916, 30 h.p. Daimler motor tender and to provide accommodation for five firemen. The bell tower had also been removed prior to 1915. These modifications reflect the growing professionalisation of what had previously been a volunteer force, and the adoption of new technology.
Upon completion of the Western Districts Fire Station in Ponsonby in 1923, the Grey Lynn Fire Station closed. The building was sold in January 1924 to John Fenton, a waterworks foreman who let the ground floor to the New Zealand Carriage Painting Company. Margaret Teasedale bought the property a year later, extended the single-storey addition to the east and used the building as a shop with residential accommodation and bakehouse. The building was sold in 1941 to retired farmer James Roche and converted into three flats. Auckland architect Reginald Dewar Morgan purchased the property in 1953, selling to its current owner, Landmark Incorporated, in January 1973.
Landmark, an incorporated society whose purpose is to preserve New Zealand's heritage, was formed in 1972 specifically to purchase the distinctive Council Chambers and Fire Station that contributed to the identity of the locality. An independent society formed by a group of Auckland town planners, lawyers, architects and engineers, Landmark recognised that large-scale urban redevelopment in the 1970s had the potential to destroy as yet unrecognised heritage buildings. The building was extensively refurbished and opened as a restaurant in April 1974. A replacement tower built in 1985 restored some of the structure's landmark qualities. The building continues in use as a café/restaurant.
Today, the former Council Chambers and Fire Station building forms an early example of combined fire station and municipal offices within a single building. Similar but later surviving examples are the former Lyttelton Fire Station and Public Library (NZHPT registration # 7524, Category II historic place) built across the street from the Lyttelton Borough Council Chambers in 1901; and the former Mt Eden Borough Council Offices and Fire Station (1912-1913) in Valley Road, Auckland, although the latter appears to have been constructed as two separate buildings and altered to form a single conjoined structure. Other fire stations registered by the NZHPT include: the former Provincial Buildings Fire Engine House in Nelson,, dating from 1866 (NZHPT registration # 257, Category I historic place); the former Uawa County Council Building, constructed in 1922 and later used by the Tolaga Bay Volunteer Fire Brigade (NZHPT registration # 3560, Category II historic place); the former Auckland Central Fire Station dating from 1902, now the St John's Ambulance Building (NZHPT registration # 117, Category I historic place); and the Wellington Central Fire Station, constructed in 1939 (NZHPT registration # 3645, Category II historic place).
