‘It’s quite spectacular’: Breathing new life into one of Timaru’s oldest buildings

Saturday, 21 December 2024

TDHL chief executive Frazer Munro has been overseeing the restoration of the bluestone building that originally housed the Union Bank of Australia.

One of Timaru’s oldest buildings has been undergoing a renovation this year, and the owners now have the chance to see inside.

More than six years after it was purchased, as part of a plan to group a large chunk of land in the town’s CBD and offer it up for a large-scale development, the 147-year-old building at 117-119 Stafford St has undergone a makeover.

Originally built in 1877 for the Union Bank of Australia, a forerunner of Australia and New Zealand Bank Limited, the bluestone building sits amongst some of the town’s oldest heritage buildings.

They are often admired by those who appreciate them for their history and craftsmanship, with Heritage NZ chief executive Andrew Coleman singling them out as a unique selling point for the town earlier this year.

The recently renovated building sits in a row of properties purchased by Timaru District Council’s holdings company, Timaru District Holdings Limited (TDHL), in September 2018.

TDHL general manager Frazer Munro in the recently renovated staircase of the Union Bank of Australia building.

Last week, TDHL announced it had put four properties neighbouring the former Union Bank building on the open market.

In unveiling the plans for the renovation in April, TDHL general manager Frazer Munro said the work would include earthquake strengthening, re-roofing and refurbishing the first floor office space.

“There are five upstairs rooms and a kitchenette; TDHL will have an office and we’ll have another two to four offices in there and a meeting room.”

At the time, he said he thought the first floor space had not been occupied since the late 1990s or early 2000s.

The first floor space is thought to have been unoccupied since the late 1990s or early 2000s.

The ground floor of the building housed the recently closed Readers Book Exchange and Newman’s Music Works.

This week, Munro gave The Timaru Herald a tour of the building and explained the work that had been done to date.

The original front of the former Union Bank of Australia building, which was built in the 1870s.

“There’s not too many of these bluestone buildings left in Timaru and it is actually quite a unique feature of Timaru and the South Island’s architectural history.

The Union Bank of Australia building sits amongst a number of Timaru’s oldest buildings.

“We do have a little bit of a collection of them going here in the South Stafford St area.”

Those included the Gladstone Works building, the Landings Services Building and the former Criterion Hotel which sat opposite the Union Bank building and was purchased by the Timaru District Council for a planned redevelopment of the Theatre Royal.

Upstairs the interior of the building had few modifications.

Munro said many of the original features were still in the building, and had been given a freshen up.

“The bank vault is still down there complete with the bars, and some of the fireplaces and all the cornices and columns are there, so it’s quite spectacular.”

He said the refurbishment of the upstairs area, which was the former bank manager’s residence, had also been included in the project.

Frazer Munro surveys the patches where the concrete plaster has been removed to expose the original bluestone frontage of the building.

“We’re really lucky … that it hasn’t been modified internally upstairs very much at all, hence we’ve been able to retain and restore a lot of those features.

“We’re really pleased with the outcome.”

However, the exterior of the building had proven a little more challenging to restore to its original state.

Frazer Munro said the bank vault is still in the building, complete with the bars.

“We think some time in the 60s or 70s the bluestone facade was plastered over, the bottom storey was taken out.”

He said it had been plastered over with “quite a hard concrete”.

TDHL has moved into the building and is seeking expressions of interest in other office space available.

“So we did some tests to see how easy it was to take the plaster off, its proven to be quite difficult and quite hard, but we’ve exposed a couple of patches and in time we might be able to do some more if we’re fortunate.”

Munro said the building had stood for 150 years, and work should see it into the future.

“Hopefully it will be used and enjoyed for another 150 years,” he said.

The former bookshop, now with old street images displayed in the front windows depicting this section of Stafford St in the early 1900s, remained vacant.

TDHL, which funded the work, had moved its office into the building, and planned to seek tenants for the other spaces.

“We have got a few interested parties that we are talking with, but we’re always interested to hear from anyone.”

The building was unlisted, but was proposed to be given a Category B listing as part of the Timaru District Council’s Proposed District Plan.