Historic HB: South side of Hastings block has seen many changes

The south side of the 300 Heretaunga Street East block around 1910. Credit: Michael Fowler Collection

Caption: The south side of the 300 Heretaunga Street East block around 1910. Credit: Michael Fowler Collection

This is the 300 block of Heretaunga Street East, Hastings around 1910.

The head of the Te Mata Peak "giant" can be seen at the top left of the photo.

All the buildings featured in this photo have long disappeared, with the last going ‒ albeit unplanned - in 1992.

After Farrelly Boots store and the millinery (hat store) is the Salvation Army Citadel, which began its life as the Protestant Hall.

Thomas Tanner, whose Riverslea Estate once included the east of Hastings was approached in 1884 to give land to the Loyal Orange Lodge of Hastings for a Protestant Hall, which he obliged.

Despite not really knowing much about the Orange Lodge, Tanner said what he did know was in its favour.

At a dinner hosted by the Orange Lodge in November 1884, they thanked Tanner for the gift of land, and after loud applause for him, he hoped they would prosper and adhere to their principles.

The Loyal Orange Lodge was a Protestant fraternal order originating from Northern Ireland and their Protestant halls were scattered all over the Commonwealth and the United States.

Michael Fowler

Napier's Protestant hall dated from at least 1877, with the first Orange Lodge appearing in New Zealand in 1842. Perhaps the country's most famous "Orangeman" was Prime Minister, William Massey.

The Salvation Army renovated and leased the Protestant Hall in 1910, until they built their own building in 1929, when it was renamed it The Salvation Army Young People's Hall.

Fortunately, the Protestant Hall, being wooden, survived the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, and was in use for another five years, until 1936 when the Hawke's Bay Electric Power Board purchased the property.

The Protestant Hall was saved and shifted to the corner of Lyndon Road and Warren Street, where it was used by the Old Folks Association, until it was demolished in 1971.

Next door to the Protestant Hall is the Hastings Borough Council offices, which Thomas Tanner had offered the land for free in 1886 if the council would fill in the crossing of the Makirikiri creek through the section.

This offer was accepted, and the Makirikiri creek was filled in, and the offices completed in 1888.

When the grand Hastings Municipal Buildings were constructed during 1916, the wooden borough council buildings were demolished.

Across Hastings Street South from the vacant section 153, is the property of the Methodist church (obscured) whose first church had opened in 1885.

Next door is Beale's Depot, which sold pianos and organs which were manufactured in Australia by Octavius Beale.

This location has been a shop for more than 130 years, which became the site of many businesses, including the Lilac bakery, which closed in the 1990s.

With its large 18 metre landmark spiral protruding, the last building is the Gothic-style Sacred Heart Church which was completed in 1895. It could seat 600 people and was built of wood.

It replaced an old church which was moved towards the back of the section to make way for a boys' school.

Father Paul Duncan awoke in September 1992 to the sound of his presbytery windows cracking and the Sacred Church a "burning inferno" and was destroyed and rebuilt to the present Sacred Heart Church.

Michael Fowler (mfhistory@gmail.com) is a contract researcher, commercial business writer of Hawke's Bay history.