ROBYN PARKES
Tākaka’s first Post Office was opened in January 1861 and closed in 1876 when everything was moved to Waitapu.
Another Post Office was opened at Upper Tākaka and when mail arrived at Waitapu it was sorted there and any letters for ‘up country’ were forwarded to the upper Post Office. This plan, for the most part, worked well with most businesses and the general public using the Waitapu Post Office.
For an unknown reason in mid-1880 the Inspector of Post Offices suddenly changed the arrangement, sending all letters addressed to Tākaka to the Upper Tākaka Post Office, meaning that people from Lower Tākaka had to travel a total of 16 miles for their mail. Residents were not happy and called for another Post Office for Tākaka, which they got in May 1881.
In 1898 talk of a more suitable building for the Post Office, including a postmasters residence, began and Government put aside money for this undertaking. Plans were drawn up by the Public Works Office and amended by John Campbell, the new Government Architect, in December 1899.
In October 1899 tenders were invited for the building of the new building with Mr J. Davies of Collingwood being the successful applicant.
The plans were made available for the public to look over and their reaction was not a positive one. The building design was tagged as being unsightly, totally unsuitable, antiquated, repulsive, an everlasting eyesore, pulled from the dim and dusty recesses of the Public Works Office, a sickly semblance of progressiveness and ranking among the curiosities in colonial architecture.
People protested that the roof had about six different pitches and angles with the front promising to match the roof, giving it a resemblance of nothing more than an old English country inn minus the sign board.
Although stating that there was little to admire about the structure, residents did acknowledge that it would be a vast improvement on the old one.
The building was completed in July 1900 and cost just under £500. The single-storied building was erected with a gable on the street façade which extended to form a canopy over the entrance and postal lobby. The floor plan laid out the Post Office section at the front of the building and a residence at the back.
Around 1937 some alterations were completed. The old Post Office was reused for a time by the Council for County offices at a rental of £5 per annum to go to the Postmaster General.
In early 1931, Dr C. Adams, the Government Seismologist, visited Tākaka for the purpose of investigating repeated earthquakes that were occurring in the district.
When he returned to Wellington, he left a Japanese earthquake recording machine that could withstand strong shakes. This was left in charge of the postmaster in the hope that some data would be obtained.
Sadly, due to economic changes, the Post Office was closed around 1987 but was purchased by the Golden Bay County Council in 1989.
It was restored by the Tākaka Museum and Cultural Society in 1990 and opened as an art gallery the following year.
