St Patricks's Square history

History of St Patrick's Square | 19th century changes | 20th and 21st century changes | St Patrick's square upgrade

20th and 21st centuries

20th century patterns of change

The 20th century brought with it marked change to the area around the cathedral and the square. Chapel Street became known as Federal Street from 1906, ²⁵ while Chapel Square itself became St Patrick's Square from September 1932. ²⁶ Warehouses and workshops appeared on the eastern side of the square, ²⁷ with the ironfoundry of Masefield & Co appearing in the area c.1914. ²⁸ By 1926 its owner Valentine Masefield owned all the sites on the eastern side of Federal Street, from Swanson Street to the Chapel Square. ²⁹ While most of Masefield's sections were sold to Victor Casey, a contractor, in that year, ³⁰ they reverted back to Masefield's ownership in 1939, possibly through a defaulted mortgage. This was later transferred to the Auckland City Council in 1948, first by an Order in Council, and then by a gazetted proclamation, for use as "a parking place". The land would remain as a parking area until the 1970s.

Opposite the cathedral's transept today, on the eastern side of the square, buildings from the first quarter of the 20th century still exist, from the days of motor engineers J A Lawlor & Co (possibly now MacDonald Halligans Motors Ltd building) and delivery store Frith Son & Co Ltd. ³¹

Increasingly, with the development of the Hobson Street ridge, St Patrick's Cathedral became dwarfed by the advent of multi-storey residential and office/retail towers.

St Patrick's Cathedral into the 20th and 21st centuries

Over the period 1906 to 1907, the old 1848 stone church, which had served as a transept for the cathedral, was demolished and completely replaced by an enlarged transept.³² In 1938 the cathedral was renovated for the centenary of the foundation of the parish in Auckland; in 1958 the original Welsh slate tile roof was replaced with aluminium pressed tiles; in 1963 the exterior was steam cleaned and painted; and in 1980 the bells were mechanised and arranged to ring at 8.00 am, noon, and 6.00 pm. ³³

After receiving a conservation plan prepared by Salmond Reed Architects in 1998, the diocese undertook emergency conservation work in 1999 to underpin the south-east corner of the Cathedral; in 2000 cracks were repaired and a Project Team established; and on 16 October 2005 the closing mass was held, with work to restore the Cathedral beginning the following month. ³⁴

St Patrick's Square and Federal Street Park development

The development of the Square as a pedestrian mall, and the creation of Federal Street Park on the lower northern terraces appears to have been sparked by the planning approval given to Sargent Construction Ltd for the construction of an 11 storey office building fronting onto Hobson Street (known as SAMCO House) in early 1969. One of the conditions of approval was that access to the accompanying parking building be restricted to Federal Street, enabling the Council to reconstruct St Patrick's Square. ³⁵

At the time, it was noted that there was no public open space to the west of Queen Street before reaching Victoria Park. Indeed, it was mentioned that the need for public space on the western ridge had been illustrated by Felton Mathew in the early 1840s, by his planned inclusion of Wellington and Hobson Squares. That, along with recognition of the area's historical and social importance (centred on the Catholic parish's Zealandia offices, shop, youth centre, and the cathedral itself), and the expected growth of workplaces in the immediate area, led the Council to decide in May 1969 to go ahead with plans for redevelopment of the square. ³⁶

The work was to be in three stages:

• Stage 1 involved closing off the western portion of St Patrick's Square and part of Federal Street to all vehicles, except those with a special license to service properties with frontage to this area.
• Stage 2 consisted of permanent landscaping in the area immediately around the cathedral, involving paving and street furniture.
• Stage 3 involved the removal of the Council's carpark and provision of garden and lawn landscaping; the creation of Federal Street Park. ³⁷

In 1973, Auckland City Council adopted a "Greenprint Policy", and the redevelopment of St Patrick's Square was to be part of this policy. ³⁸ The square joined a list of planned pedestrian areas by October 1975, including the Civic Centre (Aotea Square), Freyburg Place, Fort Street and the bottom of Queen Street (former Queen Elizabeth II Square). ³⁹ City Councillors voted to close the western side of St Patrick's Square on 12 December 1973. ⁴⁰ The plan by early 1975 had attracted some criticism from ratepayers, concerned about Council "extravagance", but the Mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, defended the plan as "You can't do these things for nothing. It is going to be a beautiful place." ⁴¹ The square, he added, was the "first real attempt by the council to beautify an area," and would involve tiling the square (costing $90,000), installing a cascade fountain (made from slabs of Te Kuiti limestone) and a lawn enclosed by a scoria stone wall. ⁴² The "inner city oasis" of St Patrick's Square was officially opened by the Mayor on 17 October 1975. ⁴³

Due to the continuing illegal parking of motor vehicles on the closed pedestrian mall area, it was resolved by Council on 29 April 1976 to close off the remaining (eastern) portion of the square, except to specially licensed vehicles as with the western side. ⁴⁴ Unfortunately, even this didn't deter illegal parking in the area, and so it was recommended in 1982 that bollards be installed along the Wyndham Street frontage, closing the western entry to the cathedral, and the installation of two smaller garden areas to the existing Federal Street Park. ⁴⁵

At some point after 1988 the second pool was installed in the Federal Street Park, as there is no mention in City Archives files before this date of any installation of this pool. Around this time Coopers & Lybrand built the ANZ Tower at 23-29 Albert Street, and took out a building permit in the 1990s for a "clocktower and colonnade." ⁴⁶It could be that at this time, the decision was made to install the second pool in Federal Street Park, and that Coopers & Lybrand took the unusual step of mirroring both the pool and the Council's paving in the park to create their own courtyard and plaza. This visual linkage is noted in the current District Plan for the Central Area.⁴⁷

25 Auckland City Street Names database, Auckland City Libraries
26 ibid
27 Photo reference W1173, 1904, Special Collections
28 Wise's Directory 1915
29 CT 433/19
30 CT 436/235
31 Wises Directory, 1930. Auckland City town planning map for 1919 shows these warehouse/workshops, as does Special Collections photo reference 2038 from 1925.
32 Salmond Reed Architects, p. 11
33 ibid
34 "Achievements to date: St Patrick's Cathedral Restoration Project", from http:www.stpatricks.org.nz/TheProject/TheCathedral/AchievementsTo Date.aspx. Sighted 25 June 2006.
35 Memo from B. D. Duffield, Acting Director, Department of Works & Services to Town Clerk, 30 April 1969, ACC 381/198, City Archives
36 Ibid, and NZ Herald article, "Square Planned As Centre For Catholics", 29 May 1969 (from City Archives, ACC 381/198)
37 Duffield Memo, 1969
38 "St Pats Square now place of beauty", City News, 15 October 1975, via City Archives, ACC 381/198
39 NZ Herald, 16 October 1975
40 "Cathedral Square to be closed to Cars", NZ Herald, 13 December 1973, via City Archives, ACC 381/198
41 "Mayor to Defence of Square", NZ Herald 28 February 1975, via City Archives, ACC 381/198
42 ibid.
43"Inner-city 'Oasis' Open", NZ Herald, 18 October 1975, via City Archives, ACC 381/198
44 Copy of resolution passed at a meeting of the Auckland City Council, 29 April 1976, City Archives, ACC 381/198
45 Report to Parks & Library Committee from Parks & Recreation Department, 12 November 1982, City Archives, ACC 381/198
46 City Archives building permit records.
47 14.2A.9 Concept Plan – St Patrick's Square, City of Auckland – District Plan, Central Area Section – Operative 2004, updated 16 June 2006, p. 20