Lancashire-born William Fielding designed this building. This steel-framed brick building was erected for C.M. Ross & Co. in 1915-16. Soon after it opened, a tea and luncheon room were established on the first floor. It closed in 1928. The Manawatu County Club Inc., (a women’s club) then moved into the old tearooms and it remained there until 1980 when then owner, Arthur Barnetts’, required the space for the department store.
The building was part of the 1992 purchase of the department store complex by PNCC for the city’s new library. During this work, the back three-fifths of the building was sheared off to allow a path to be created between George Street and the Square, which includes the library’s main entrance. However, the building’s Coleman Place façade remains intact. The upper floors are now accessed from this alleyway between the two buildings. The ground floor is now a restaurant.
