More Info →Page 89 - Levin 75th Jubilee Supplement

Description

A key figure:

Mr P.G. Guerin-town clerk from 1961 to 1973-was a key figure in the metamorphosis of Levin from a country town of 6000 people to a small industrial centre of 14,000.

Contains:

Mr P.G. Guerin
Mr Wise
The Mall

Eight town clerks:

Levin has had eight town clerks during its 75 years-some of them in unusual circumstances.

Contains:

Levin town clerks
Mr P. W. Goldsmith
Mr Henry Leonard Jenkins
Mr P.G. Guerin
Mr A.D. Roberts
Mr W.J. Oaks
B.R. Gardener
T. Brown
F.J. Ramsay
H.L. Jenkins
E.J. Oaks
R. Little
Mr Bob Little

Protest:

A Levin borough councillor, the late Cr E. M. (Martin) Harvey, who attended the laying of the foundation stone for the Regent Theatre in 1924, protested when it was painted over in 1961.

Contains:

Cr E. M. Harvey
Regent Theatre
Mr Massey

Domed and corniced:

	LevinCarnegie Free Library - date of photo unknown.
	Opening of the Levin Carnegie Free Library 29/11/1911 Opened by Sir Joseph Ward, Premier. Entirely financed by Carnegie grant. Built by Mayer and Illingworth at a cost of 1450 (pounds), $2900. Sited on the north west corner of Bath and Oxford streets. Demolished March 1965. Brenmuhls and Warnocks shops are now on the site. Photo taken by Joseph Scott with a Brownie Box camera, Kodak.
	Levin Carnegie Free Library demolition in 1965.

One of Levin's outstanding landmarks was it's doomed and corniced public library-torn down in 1965 and replaced with a more mundane building. Built in 1909 at a cost of 1600 pounds as the Carnegie Free Public Library, it cost over 55,000 pounds to replace with the present Library.
It was demolished for the council by Mr R. Meikle, of K. Douglas Ltd, who commented "It's a lovely tiled roof", as he tossed the tiles down a chute to smash into a lorry. An interested spectator at the demolition was Mr Harry McGuire, who had worked on it's construction as an apprentice to his plasterer father, Mr T.H. McGuire.
No record is left of the fate of a seat almost as well-known as that outside the Levin Post Office. It was donated to the borough council in 1948 by Mrs Elizabeth Howell in memory of her husband John. The seat was a favourite stopping place for shoppers to chat, but was removed during the demolition work.

Identification

Date

March 1981