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Public Library - Corner of Main Street East and The Square

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Description: This photograph appeared in the first issue of "Corporation News." It looks across The Square towards the old Public Library. This building was the fifth to house the Palmerston North Municipal Library, and the second to be built specifically as a library. The City Council approved the plans for the multi-purpose project in July 1963 and building was completed November 1965. Sir Bernard Fergusson, the Governor-General, officially opened the building. The library originally occupied 30,000 feet of a total floor area of 52,133, with the remaining area let as commercial space. In 1970 they occupied a further 2,000 square feet. The building was outgrown in the 1990s and a new library was opened in a former CM Ross department store building on the opposite side of The Square. This building is now let to commercial tenants. The building obscured by trees is the old Post Office.