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The Square, Palmerston North

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Description: This photograph shows the stretch of The Square between Coleman Mall and Church Street West. Buildings from right: Commercial Building; Commercial Hotel - a Commercial Hotel operated on the corner of Main Street and The Square from 1881-1986, and this was the third one built in 1935 and demolished in 1986; Coles Building on the opposite side of Main Street corner, constructed in 1906 for Henry Coles who had a music shop on the ground floor and leased the rest of the building. In c1970 the Palmerston North City Council bought the property and leased the shops. The was closed in April 1974 and demolished in May 1974, to make way for a new Palmerston North City Council complex. Beyond can be seen the tower of the Grand Hotel (built in 1906, still standing in 2014) and the spire of the All Saints Church (built 1914, still standing in 2014). The former home of the Municipal Chambers is visible on Church Street West - it became an arts centre, known as ‘Square Edge’ when it was vacated by the Palmerston North City Council in 1980. Built as the Palmerston North City Council Municipal building in 1944-1945, it was designed by Reginald Thorrold Jaggard. The Council had occupied the same site in the former Colonial Bank of New Zealand building until it was demolished to make way for their new offices. It retained the 1924 addition (which contained the Council Chamber) at the rear. The building was repainted in 2010.