Dinner and Drinks at House

When you're not eating and drinking at home - you could go to House (on Hood street).

House is one of my favourite haunts, as they seem to sell every fine ale there is, and have a brilliant chef. On the cards yesterday where a variety of ciders, and indeed a tasty main of Lamb rump, with bacon, beans and spuds - the perfect thing to soak up that alcohol. I'd give their effort last night a 9/10, which is consistent with my previous visits.

House on Hood, Hood Street, Hamilton - Jan 2011

Of course, Hamiltonians will probably remember the venue as the loaded hog - it's gone a long way upclass since then, and it's certainly a change from the buildings' first life, as a hotel:

Hood Street, 1939

The New Zealand Dairy Association building on Victoria/London

On the corner of Victoria and London streets stands one of my favourite historic buildings in Hamilton, the former Dairy Association building, built in 1920. I have as yet never found a historic photo of this building, but it's been there ninety odd years.

Former Dairy Association building, 661 Victoria Street (cnr London Street), Hamilton - April 2011

What has saddened me all these years is the fact that this building has continuately remained tenantless, and seemed to be owned by someone who didn't want to invest much money into it. Fortunately, that is about to change, as the building has just recently sold, and will be restored to contain a series of apartments. That means the facade will be restored and earthquake strengthened, and this building will grace our main street for many years to come.

What was in that gap: Knox street clinic carpark

Sometimes, you'd never guess that a gap once had something interesting. Other times, there are subtle clues, like this fence:

I'd had this photo for a while, and was puzzling over where this building could have been, and then I spotted the fence whilst out and about. What replaced this early Hamilton municipal building? A carpark!

Government Buildings, Knox Street Hamilton - 1890s

Government Buildings, Knox Street Hamilton - 1930s

Government Buildings, Knox Street Hamilton - 1960s

Unfortunately, all my research on this building has come to nothing. All I've found is that the last photo above, taken in the '60s, was shortly before the building's demise. This is what the site looks like now - a car park with some old garages at the back. Most of the fence remains, but that's it.

Knox Street - 2011

Hamilton Lake, two photos a hundred years, and worlds apart

I walk around Hamilton lake (Lake Rotorua) on a fairly regular basis. Here is a photo I took last night.

Hamilton Lake (Lake Rotorua) - 7 Feb 2011

And here is a similar photo which is from 1908:

Hamilton Lake (Lake Rotorua) - 2 Apr 1908

Quite a marked difference

Waikato Riverside Walk: Piranha Park to Pirate Island

Make that Parana park to an unnamed island - but the title does sound more exciting. Parana park, and the next door Memorial park go back a long way in Hamilton history, and represent the northern end of the main riverside track on the eastern side of the river (though there are other disparate parts on this side of the river further north).

Yesterday's walk started at Parana Park, and headed south, under bridge, past the Wellington Street beach (which was underwater), and on towards the island (which is not far from the southern end of Brookfield Street). All up, just over an hour's walk.

A few photos. I didn't take all that many - the sun tends to get in the way at this time of the evening. I do always ponder what the Hayes Paddock area would've been like if it hadn't been filled with State houses (not to say the State houses are bad, just that the area was designated as parkland and the government decided to turn it into a house estate).

Parana Park

Parana Park

Waikato River - Looking South

Waikato River



Waikato River with Ducks

  

Stairs to the Island, Waikato River

The Island, Waikato River

Waikato River - Looking North

Waikato River - Looking North

Hayes Paddock is considered an architecturally significant area for it's state housing - this house is more my cup of tea though:

56A Jellicoe Drive Hamilton

56A Jellicoe Drive Hamilton

What was in that gap: Wintec Carpark (cnr Ward and Angelsea)

Whenever I see a vacant site in a city - I wonder what was there before.

This particular site, the corner of Ward Street and Angelsea Street has been vacant for my entire time in Hamilton.

Cnr Ward Street and Angelsea (outside Wintec) 2011

 The site once contained a most hardware store: Odlin's. Odlin's Hardware became part of the Winstone Group, would would in turn become part of modern Fletchers - in other words, what would now be branded as Placemakers.

Odlin's Hardware Hamilton (cnr Ward and Angelsea) 1970

I'm not entirely sure why this store was torn down, and it's not the greatest architectural loss, but it would be good to see something other than a gravel carpark in it's place.

Hamilton Lake

The weather this morning wasn't too bad, considering a cyclone has just passed over, but it was still rather windy this morning, so my walk was in a reliable place - Hamilton Lake.

Sadly, I didn't think to clear out my SD card this morning, so about 10 minutes into the 45 minute loop, I'd filled it up. Photos below however.

The wind made the lake look more like a sea, with spray all over the paths. What made things even more interesting was the Waka Ama racing which was talking place.

Waka Ama - Lake Rotorua (Hamilton Lake)

Waka Ama - Lake Rotorua (Hamilton Lake)

Waka Ama - Lake Rotorua (Hamilton Lake)

Waka Ama - Lake Rotorua (Hamilton Lake)

Ducks near Lake Rotorua (Hamilton Lake)

Some things don't change much...

So I found an old picture of the National Insurance building (now Caro House) on the corner of the Caro Street and Alexandra Street here in Hamilton. This one is a building that has stood the test of time. Between the 1956 pic, and mine from just the other day, the only differences are the ground floor shops, the added awnings, and the extended window sills (for reasons I don't know)...

It's good to see some things do remain as originally intended. Even the current paint scheme is sympathetic to the design.



National Insurance Building (Caro House) 1956



National Insurance Building (Caro House) 2011

Missing Hamilton Architecture: The State Theatre

There are many buildings in Hamilton that have disappeared completely, and some that are still standing. The State Theatre is truely neither. When built on the corner of London Street and Victoria Street in 1932 the theatre appeared similar to the below photo (taken in 1939).

State Theatre Hamilton 1939

The theatre operated until 1964, at which time it was reopened as the Carlton and continued to trade until the opening of Village cinemas in Centreplace, which ultimately spelled doom for the State Theatre, as well as other theatres like the Embassy and the Regent.

The building would be tennanted by the Fountain City Church, until it was purchased in 2001 by Bayleys Real Estate, who, initially where going to demolish they building. Truth be told, they may as well have, there is not a lot left of it. The building was kept as it turned out to be one of the regions first reinforced concrete buildings, but for the most part, was gutted and stripped of it's architectural features, as my following photos show.

Ex State Theatre Hamilton 2011 - Bayleys Building

The original concrete panels are visible on the London Street facade

Only minor details of the State Theatre survive

The only significant detail of the orginal facade of the State Theatre.

State Theatre, next to it's modern counterpart, the Victoria Cinema

It's really sad that the State Theatre did not survive the last decade, while an independent cinema, the Victoria Cinema has started in a much less appropriate building next door.