After operating from premises in Devon Street for 40 years, the Taranaki Herald moved to a new building on Currie Street (Town Section 924) in 1900. This two-storey wooden building was designed by James Sanderson and the contractor was Mr R. Coleman. At the time the Herald claimed to have, "the most complete and convenient printing and publishing offices between Auckland and Wellington".
Only six years later, the Herald reported that architect James Sanderson had been engaged again to design a large extension - to be built in brick - next to the existing premises. A permit for this two-storey masonry building was issued to Mr H. Weston (Proprietor of the Taranaki Herald) on 9 October 1906. The estimated construction cost was £1700, and the contractor was Mr. Arthur Cliff. It was finished by July 1907 and was described with some pride by the newspaper on 16 July.
In April 1909 a fierce blaze destroyed the wooden portion of the Herald's Currie Street premises. However, within days a temporary building had been erected by Mr Cliff and a replacement printing machine was quickly sourced.
Work on a more permanent replacement was underway immediately and a permit was issued on 22 May 1909 for "additions" to the Currie Street building. The value was £1947, and the architects were Sanderson and Griffiths. The contractors this time were the well-known local firm Boon Bros. The new building was built in brick and matched the 1907 structure, as can be seen in the photograph above. The new building was completed and ready for use in December 1909.
In 1984 the building was demolished and the existing Daily News building on the corner of Currie and Powderham Streets was extended to accommodate staff from the Herald.
The Taranaki Herald ceased publication in April 1989.
Related documents:
A Newspaper's progress 1852-1932 (Taranaki Herald 19 November 1932)
Goodbye Taranaki (Taranaki Herald 29 April 1989)
From the archives: Herald was oldest newspaper in land (Taranaki Daily News 17 November 2012)
From the archives (Taranaki Daily News 8 March 2014)
From the archives (Taranaki Daily News 30 August 2014)
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