A permit was granted to W. Beard on 19 October 1928 for the construction of business premises on Town Section 631, corner Dawson and King Streets - S. R. Smith was the builder, and the estimated construction cost was £900. Wallis Beard was a furniture manufacturer, advertising the location as being on Devon Street West "opp. the Convent". Perhaps this building was used as the workshop with a retail outlet on Devon Street West.
The bootmaker George Kibby moved to this building in 1940. However, his business grew rapidly and only four years later he built a much larger factory between this building and the corner of Devon Street West.
It was about this time that City Dairy Ltd - town milk suppliers - moved into the building above. About 1974 they shifted their bottling plant out to Bell Block.
Since about 2017 the building has been occupied by the firm Vintage Industries and includes a cafe.
Legal description: Lot 10 DP1485, ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ). Town Section 631, Taranaki Land Deed Index I1 page 351.
Related documents:
City Dairy Ltd Advertisement (Taranaki Herald Centennial Issue 9 March 1940)
City Dairy Ltd Advertisement (Taranaki Herald Centennial Issue 1852-1952)
Milk Treating Station Handles 3200 Gallons Daily (Taranaki Herald 27 October 1953)
Milk in cartons prompts exodus (Taranaki Herald 13 January 1988)
City Dairy leases out three milk rounds (Taranaki Herald 20 January 1988)
New milk cartons on the way (Taranaki Herald 29 March 1988)
Kiwi Buys Out City Dairy Ltd (Daily News 14 Dec 1989)
Kibby's: The evolution of a family firm - Advertisement (Ragtime #42 4 May 1991)
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