Memory box
Last week on this page Lyn Williams profiled Samuel Sheldon, the builder of the Alexandra Buildings on Hamilton’s ‘main drag’.
Local architect Thomas White designed the elegant structure, which was most likely named for Queen Alexandra, the wife of Edward VII. The August 1902 coronation of the two monarchs certainly explains the naming of Alexandra Street, which runs directly behind the portion of Victoria Street on which the Alexandra Buildings is located.
Thomas Maunder acquired the property in June 1902 and quickly commissioned TH White to design a twostorey brick masonry building to provide retail and commercial premises for multiple tenants. The building was complete by the winter of 1903 and foundation tenants included Annie Penlington, a widow from Akaroa who sold millinery, baby clothes and underclothing, and Campbell MacDiarmid, a barrister and solicitor from New Plymouth.
The architect Fred Smith took rooms in August 1903, and in the past Smith has been credited with the design of the Alexandra Buildings because of the circumstantial evidence offered by his occupancy.
A tender notice placed in the Waikato Argus on August 23, 1902 by Thomas White provides definitive proof of authorship.
The Alexandra Buildings were hailed as ‘a very handsome structure’ upon completion and the building’s brick construction was held up as a model for other commercial property development in the growing town. It was the tallest building on the western side of Victoria Street in the block bounded by Collingwood and Hood Streets when it was erected.
The ground floor of the building was altered by Daniell & Anderson in 1912 and extended, possibly by Vautier & Anderson, in 1917.
Above the suspended veranda, the fac¸ade is in the Edwardian commercial classical style, with a central pediment, decorative entablature and fluted pilasters.
For a 114-year old building, the Alexandra Buildings retain a remarkably high level of authenticity, especially in regard to the first-floor fac¸ade and interior. The building continues to provide retail and commercial premises, although the northern ground floor shop is currently vacant. For many years this part of the building was occupied by the Dolly Varden tearooms, which were one of the city’s landmark hospitality providers in the 1950s and 1960s. Photographs of the tearooms are conspicuous by their absence from the public record but perhaps a reader [or two] could help to rectify that unfortunate state of affairs.
As Messrs Maunder and White likely intended, the building makes a notable contribution to the streetscape of Hamilton’s principal thoroughfare. It is also an important element within a cluster of significant scheduled heritage buildings, which includes the former Paul’s Book Arcade, Grocott’s Buildings, and Wesley Chambers.
The Alexandra Buildings were held by Thomas Maunder and his heirs for over 70 years. Since the early 1970s the building has passed through a number of hands and I’m pleased to report that the current owner appreciates both its historic character and the part the building has played in the commercial life of Hamilton.