Civic Administration Building 'Topping-Off' Ceremony

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Civic Administration Building 'Topping-Off' Ceremony

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Description: These images were taken for the Tribune weekly newspaper but may not have been published as no article was identified. The negatives had no accompanying information beyond the year ‘1978’.

They depict Mayor Brian Elwood and councillors on top of the Civic Administration building, unofficially, and officially ‘topping-off’ the building as the ceremonial last piece of concrete is laid in the roof.

Although the images appear not to have been published in the Tribune, similar images were published in the Evening Standard, including one of Councillor Pat Kelliher carving his initials in the concrete. The Standard’s caption for that image read: “THE unofficial… and the official. City "watchdog", Cr Pat Kelliher, has already made his mark as arch-critic of the civic centre-but yesterday he took a step further. He just couldn't resist the temptation to "cement" his association with the project by carving his initials in the last piece of concrete in the roof. All in the interests of posterity, of course. Alas, a workman smoothed the surface before the Mavor arrived with the official float. Mayor ELWOOD ‘put his official foot in it’ marking a major milestone for the project. It's perhaps doubtful if ‘milestone’ was the word in Cr Kelliher's mind, but it's pretty close. Pretty close. He would probably have preferred ‘millstone’”

These images form part of the Manawatū Evening Standard Negative Collection. Unfortunately, only negatives between April and December 1978 are held.