Settlement of the Manawatu
The Manawatu Region was settled by the iwi Rangitane who had migrated from the Hawke’s Bay and had settled a wide geographical area that included Tāmakinui-a-Rua (around present-day Dannevirke), Wairarapa, Te Whanganui a Tara (Wellington), and Wairau in the south, and Manawatū and Horowhenua to the west. In the 1820s Ngati Toa, led by Te Rauparaha, conquered parts of the Manawatu but Rangitane retained their strongholds in the upper reaches of the Manawatu.
With the settlement of Wellington the New Zealand Company sought out further land for acquisition and the Manawatu was identified as suitable for settlement. Deals were struck with Maori but later investigations by the Spain Commission led to the granting of only 9,000 of the 25,000 acres claimed by the Company. The Crown was more successful in acquiring land in the Upper Manawatu with an agreement for the purchase of 25,000 acres for £12,000 in 1864.
John Stewart, Chief District Surveyor, was instructed to proceed with the preparation of a subdivision plan of the town and country sections. A town centre in the Upper Block was suggested and in 1866 the surveyors set up camp in a place known as the Papaioea clearing to lay off a township.
The original layout of the township was designed around a central square with the main streets running from this point. The Square is recorded as the site of the pa of the Rangitane ancestor Rakaumaui in the New Zealand Archaeological Association (NZAA) Site Recording Scheme. Located within the Papaioea clearing which extended from Cook Street in the west to Brightwater Terrace in the east and from Featherston Street in the north to Ferguson Street in the south. In the past hangi stones have been uncovered by earthworks in The Square and earthworks for the Inland Revenue Building on the corner of Ashley Street and Ferguson Street exposed ovens.
In a report to the Wellington Provincial Government Stewart referred to the Upper Block as the ‘township of Palmerston’ reporting that 160 town lots and 350 suburban and small farm lots had been surveyed off. The name Palmerston was in honour of the British statesman and Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, who had passed away in October 1865. The name was later changed to Palmerston North as the name Palmerston was already in use in the South Island. Sections in the Manawatu were sold off but it was some time before occupation and the construction of a town was achieved.
Law and Order for the Manawatu
With the acquisition of land came settlement and population growth within the Manawatu region. The need for law and order saw the appointment of Constable J. Purcell to police the Manawatu District in January 1867. However, he was stationed at Foxton where there was a courthouse and with an inability to police such a large area Palmerston North gained a reputation as the ‘most drunken and rowdiest town of the west coast’.
By 1871 Palmerston North had a resident policeman, W.C. Wilson, and a police station located on Main Street which consisted of a small cottage. In 1872 land had been gazetted in the Town of Palmerston North that would form part of the police and courthouse areas. In 1879 a new police station was built on Main Street and would later become a house for the sergeant when it was no longer used for that purpose. In 1893 land was set apart for a Courthouse and Police Station, this area was described in the Gazette Notice as Sections 660 and 661, approximately two roods. The sections bordered Main Street and Church Street and continue to be the present sites of the Palmerston North Court and the former Police Station.
With the construction of a new courthouse fronting Main Street the old court house was relocated to the Church Street site in 1895 and used as a police station. This wooden building was converted into a police station and served as such until the construction of the new Police Station in 1938. In 1908 The Cyclopedia of New Zealand described the police station at Palmerston North as ‘an old wooden building with a frontage to Church Street, and provides office accommodation and quarters for some of the police.’ At that time Sergeant M.D. Stagpoole was in charge of the station and his staff included a detective, a gaoler and seven constables.
Historic photographs show a number of outbuildings associated with the old wooden police station including a cell block and a paddock that accommodated the troop horse. In April 1938 the old station was demolished and parts salvaged and reused to convert the St Andrews Church Hall into a temporary police station while the new one was being built.
Palmerston North reached city status with a population of over 20,000 in 1930 and in 1938 the strength of the force was one inspector, one Senior Sergeant, one Detective Sergeant, three Sergeants, three Detectives and 45 constables. With the growth in population came the necessity for the police force to expand. It soon became clear the small wooden Victorian-era police station was inadequate to accommodate the needs of a modernising police force and plans were set in motion to erect a modern police station that would service the Palmerston North District. The then Minister of Public Works, Robert Semple, had condemned the old wooden building as a ‘disgrace’.
In 1937 the Architectural Branch of the Public Works Department, headed by the Government Architect, John Thomas Mair, supplied a concept drawing of the ‘New Police Station, Palmerston North’. The drawing was of the front elevation and envisioned a two storey symmetrical structure with a ground floor wing that extended out to the side. The modernism of the design was further invoked with billowing yet fast moving clouds sketched behind the building. It lacked detailing or ornamentation with only a slight embellishment along the parapet. The final design would only slightly deviate from this concept drawing.
Development of the site had already started in 1935 with the construction of a new cell block that lay at the back of the wooden police station. The design of the new police station was to incorporate this cell block in a seamless way that would not betray its earlier construction. The site plan delineates the existence of a rubbish dump that would need to be cleared away. Carter notes that in 1985 when contractors were excavating the present car park, material relating to this earlier occupation of the site was uncovered.
Laying the Foundation Stone and the Clouds of War
At a time when the war clouds were forming over Europe and the New Zealand press were following the daily developments of European militarisation, the laying of the foundation stone for a new police station at Palmerston North made the provincial and Capital papers. The Times, Manawatu Standard and Evening Post providing coverage of the event with The Times reporting that the station was being constructed at a cost of £30,000 and was to be the ‘most modern building of its kind in the Dominion’.
The Honourable Peter Fraser, the Minister of Police, attended the ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone on 28 September 1938. With an impending election Fraser took the opportunity to make a public address at a meeting at the Palmerston North Opera House that evening. Fraser promoted the Social Security Act and information pamphlets describing the scheme were circulated at the meeting. The Labour Party had won the 1935 election under the leadership of Michael Joseph Savage, and swept to power following the widespread poverty of the Great Depression and discontent with the Liberal Government of the time. Under a radical social and economic agenda the First Labour Government undertook a number of projects including the implementation of Social Security and a number of public works including the Palmerston North Police Station. The Labour Party would go on to win the election on 15 October 1938 with Fraser as Deputy Prime Minister and later Prime Minister, after the sickness and passing of Savage.
At the time the site was awash with concrete foundations and soaring rods of steel. A platform was erected for the ceremony and it was held outside the entranceway with a large crowd gathering on Church Street. The laying of the foundation stone ceremony was attended by a number of other dignitaries including the Mayor, A.E. Mansford, the Commissioner of Police, D.G. Cummings and a number of Members of Parliament, Hon. M. Briggs, Hon. R. Mawhere and the Hon. Joseph Hodgens the Member of Parliament for Palmerston North.
The Mayor presided over the ceremony, remarking that the new building would be a ‘credit to the city and the public’. Comments were made about the state of the old wooden building and its inadequacy to accommodate the needs of an expanding police force in the district. It was described as an ‘eyesore’ and ‘disgrace’ by the electorate M.P. Mr J. Hodgens, who explained how he had been determined to have a new police station built.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. D.G. Cummings commented that it was the first time that a foundation stone laying ceremony had been performed and that usually the police moved into a new building with no ceremony. For Mr Fraser this was the first time he had laid a foundation stone of a police station and he congratulated all those involved in the planning of the new building. He also commented on the need for the police to operate efficiently and it ‘was necessary for the country to provide them with good facilities for doing their work.’ The Palmerston North Police Station design represented a more progressive look to encouraging efficiency within the force with the provision of sleeping, dining and recreation facilities within the building. Changes in policing were happening with the introduction of new technologies and methods for the detection and prevention of crime. Comment was made by the Minister about the trialing of radio equipment in cars.
The laying of the foundation stone was to be the last official ceremony celebrating the building. With its completion in 1939 the focus of the country had turned towards Europe and the war effort. Policy at the time dictated the conservation of resources and no official opening was celebrated.
A Purpose-Built and Modern Police Station
The design of the Police Station was undertaken by the Office of the Government Architect under the leadership of John Thomas Mair. Mair was appointed Government Architect in 1923 and was the successor to John Campbell who had established Edwardian Baroque as the semi-official style for government buildings in New Zealand. Mair was to put his own mark on public buildings with a significant departure from traditional styles and instead there was a determined move towards the new architecture of modernism that embraced new construction methods that utilised concrete and structural steel.
After the 1931 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake the Government Architect was conscious of the need to construct buildings that would preserve life and property. The inclusion of engineers in the structural design of buildings as well as the use of new materials like reinforced concrete and prefabricated metal joinery were important changes in the construction of public buildings by the Public Works Department.
On 2 April 1938 the Minister of Works, the Honourable Robert Semple, released details of the new building:
‘It is to be a two storey reinforced building and an entire departure from the previously conceived plans for this type of building. The exterior is to be finished in textured plaster incorporating a certain amount of Maori ornament, and bronze and stainless steel are used for lamps, lettering on the façade. All the windows are of galvanized steel. The front of the building is to be set back 9 feet from the footpath and the main entrance is to be approached by steps giving access to a T shape hall. The hall and corridors are finished with coloured textured plaster with polished chromium plated dado cappings.’
The new building with its size and bulk allowed for the partitioning of the space into a number of rooms for various activities including public access, work, accommodation and recreation. Semple described the plans for some of the individual rooms including those for the Senior Sergeant, the Sergeant, the Constables, interview rooms, and the muster room. The cell block and detention areas were described, and the heating and lighting systems detailed. For station staff, the accommodations were noted:
‘A staircase adjoining the main entrance but separated by a doorway, gives access to the first floor containing the living and sleeping accommodation for constables. Also a billiard room will be at the southern end of the building.’
The tender contract for construction of the Palmerston North Police Station was won by the local firm of Bodell and Company for the sum of £28,477 and was completed in 1939.
The Palmerston North Police Station is a Stripped Classical design with Art Deco decorative elements that adorned the front elevation of the building. The station had an asymmetrical design with the symmetrical two storey main block being disrupted by a single storey wing that extended to the east of the front elevation. The windows were recessed with a ziggurat design on the edges. Other elements of modernist design included the flat fabric layered roof and metal exterior joinery. The addition of a second storey was made to the east wing prior to 1983 and the ornamental metal gates removed, probably for increasing access to the rear court yard.
The front elevation has a thick plastered surface over the concrete with imitation pointed stone joints. Historic photographs suggest that the original finish was coloured and brought out the imitation stone features. Bold exterior decoration was incorporated with the unique use of a kowhaiwhai pattern around the front elevation parapet. The motif was purposeful and is of interest as use of a Maori design on a public building was rare.
The name ‘POLICE’ was constructed of stainless steel finished with a high polish and affixed above the doors of the entranceway. Situated near the top of the building and in the centre was the Royal Coat of Arms was a specification by the Government Architect and was modelled in position in cement plaster. A retired sculptor, Jack Griffiths, was brought to Palmerston North at the request of the architect to finish the coat of arms. A porch was added in the 1990s and ramps constructed to give better access to the entranceway.
Mair was responsible for a number of important public buildings that were constructed not just in the main cities but also the provincial towns and cities. The Government Architect favoured the Stripped Classical style that was restrained in its use of highly stylised decorative features to create interest from the street and in many cases the design was reflective of the use of the building. Representative examples of his work are the Children’s Dental Clinic, Wellington; the Chief Post Office, Dunedin; Jean Batten Place Departmental Building; the Public Works Department Building, Napier; and his most important building the Stout Street Departmental Building in Wellington.
A design that endured
In 1950 requests by a number of Australian Police Commissioners were made for access to copies of the plans for the Palmerston North Police Station and Lockup. J. Smith, the Commissioner of Police, Queensland, during a visit to New Zealand in 1948 had visited the ‘model Station at Palmerston North’ and wished to use the plans to assist in designing police stations in Australia. Records show that the plans were forwarded on to the various commissioners who requested them.
The issue of accommodation for senior officers and their families was raised when it became apparent that the sergeant’s flat, located on the second storey, was not appropriate accommodation for a young family. In the 1950s there was a shortage of state houses in Palmerston North and the idea was floated to build flats on the vacant land next to the station. The final decision was that the area was too small to accommodate the flats and garages were constructed along the eastern boundary in the late 1950s.
In 1995 a survey plan was produced to separate the Police Station and Court sites. Section 2 Survey Office Plan 37467 was set apart for Police purposes and incorporated part of Section 661 and part of Section 489 Town of Palmerston North. A new certificate of title was issued.
A new home for police in the twenty first century
At the start of the twenty first century the Police Station had reached the end of its life as an active station due to an expanding work force and the need for accommodation of new technologies for law enforcement. The Palmerston North olice have maintained their link to the former station with the new station being constructed to the south east of Church Street and opened in later 2005.
With the police having vacated the building, the presence of a time capsule buried behind the foundation stone was brought to the attention of police authorities by police historian and former constable at the station, Ray Carter. A stone mason was employed to remove the foundation stone but was unsuccessful. A decision was made to break through from the inside and the copper box was removed from the reinforced concrete structure with little damage.
The time capsule was not opened until 28 September 2005, exactly 67 years after it was buried into the wall of the police station. The box contained copies of the Manawatu Evening Standard, The Times and the Evening Post which covered the proceedings regarding the laying of the foundation stone; various papers from the Public Works Department including copies of the architectural drawings and a photograph of men laying the concrete foundations and erecting the steel-work. Of note was a hand painted scroll that was signed by key persons involved in the project and the dignitaries that attended the foundation stone laying ceremony.
In 2006 it was reported in the Manawatu Evening Standard that the Palmerston North City Council was involved in negotiations for possible purchase of the building under the Public Works Act and the building being demolished for a car park. With news of an impending demolition a number of commentators discussed the various merits of the police station regarding its historical and architectural significance. Robert McGregor of the Art Deco Trust, Napier, wrote an open letter to the Mayor of Palmerston North City describing the building as a ‘rare example of Art Deco that incorporates Maori motifs’ and challenged their inability to identify and protect this important building. Concerns about the heritage values of the building saw the City Council withdraw from its plans and the building awaits an adaptive reuse.
