New Plymouth architect Frank Messenger was employed in 1914 to design a new fire station for the New Plymouth brigade. The contract for the building was signed on 7 October and a building permit issued on 12 October 1914.
It was located on the corner of Liardet and Courtenay Streets (Town section 930). The plans are signed by H. (Harry) Grayling, a New Plymouth builder who won the tender to build the station. The estimated cost of the building was £2,293.
The fire station was ready for use in early July 1915 and officially opened on the 29 July. The two-storey building was concrete with a rough-cast finish. A reinforced concrete tower for drying hoses and training purposes, shown in the original plans, was never built. Instead a structural steel tower with intermediate platforms was built. This change had a significant impact on the overall scale of the building. (Ian Pritchard - Frank Messenger, Architect 1994).
After the new fire station was built in 1965, on the opposite corner to this building, the old fire station was used as an auction house and gymnasium before being demolished in 1991. It was replaced by a service station - now branded "Z".
Related documents:
Fire Brigade Anniversary (New Plymouth Photo News 17 April 1958)
Decision Soon On Old Fire Station (Daily News 16 November 1966)
Fire station served for half a century (Taranaki Daily News 25 August 2012)
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