Public Library, Art Gallery and Old Colonists’ Museum, to-day
The progress illustrated in these pictures may be taken as typical of the growth of the City’s Institutions in general
The Art Gallery has been equally fortunate. The nucleus of the gallery, consisting mainly of old masters and other pictures, was given by Sir George Grey, and other public spirited citizens have followed his example. The most notable bequest, however, was that of the late James Tannock Mackelvie, who bequeathed, in 1885, his valuable art collection, along with a large sum of money, in trust, to establish and maintain a Museum of Fine Art for the people of Auckland. By an arrangement between the trustees and the Corporation, an addition was made to the Art Gallery building, and the collection deposited there. It now contains a well chosen selection of modern British and Continental pictures and objets d’art. Altogether, the Auckland Art Gallery takes the premier position among institutions of its kind in New Zealand. To provide accommodation for the rapidly increasing number of pictures, a further addition was made to the Gallery in 1916, and was opened by Mr. J. H. Gunson, Mayor, on December 6th, but already the room has proved insufficient for the growth of the collections. The city authorities have specialised in New Zealand art, and this section contains an interesting group of paintings by local artists.
The Old Colonists’ Museum, which is housed in the Library and Art Gallery building, was opened on March 22, 1916, by the Mayor (Mr. J. H. Gunson). It contains an extensive collection of pictures, maps, plans and mementoes illustrating the early days of New Zealand, especially North Auckland and the city.
The Elam School of Art, which was established by the will of the late Dr. J. E. Elam, who bequeathed a sum of £6500 for the purpose, was located in the Public Library building from 1890 until 1915; in this year the school was moved to a new building which had been erected in Rutland Street.
The work of the Harbour Board, as far as the city is concerned, has been devoted principally to reclamation and wharves. Prior to the constitution of the Harbour Board, the port was under the control of the Provincial Council. Some reclamation had been carried out by that body, for at the time of the transference of the control from the Provincial Council to the Board considerable alteration had taken place on the foreshores. In the ’forties, Commercial Bay swept round from Britomart Point along a beach, which subsequently became Fort Street, to a headland known successively as Stanley Point and Smales Point. This promontory stood in the vicinity of Albert Street and Customs Street West. By 1870 the foreshore had been reclaimed, and Customs Street East added to the city’s highways. At that date Customs Street ended at the foot of a cliff, and a long flight of steps, known as “Jacob’s Ladder,” led up to Emily Place. On the western side of Queen Street, Customs Street finished at the waterfront opposite Albert Street.
The wharf accommodation in 1870 was very small indeed. The first Auckland wharf was the Wynyard Pier, which was built in the ’forties, and was situated in Official Bay in a direct line from Short Street. Commercial Bay had from the first been selected as the shipping centre of Auckland, and by 1852, one can gather from [Hogan’s engraving] (p. 72) that considerable work has been expended upon the improvement of the facilities for loading and unloading vessels. The Queen Street Wharf has always been the principal wharf, but in 1852 there was a small pier leading from the lane which ran from the Victoria Hotel to Shortland Street, and east of Graham’s Bond (a stone building which still stands in Fort Street, but at that time was right on the waterfront) there was a landing stage. Between 1852 and 1870 a new wooden wharf replaced the Queen Street one, another was erected opposite Gore Street, and a breakwater had been built from Britomart Point.
This was the state of the waterfront when the Harbour Board undertook the management of the port.
One of the earliest tasks the Board undertook was the demolition of Point Britomart, which occupied several years to accomplish. The spoil was used for reclamation between that point and Queen Street, and on this area the railway yards, electric power station, cold stores, and other establishments have been built, adding Quay Street to the number of city thoroughfares.