Ardmore Street
The way down to the Wānaka lake front has, certainly from the 1860’s, been down a track, called a dray track in the early days. It was formed by travellers following the same track month after month down a sloping side of a hill. It was not formed as a road as we know it today.
Note that originally Ardmore St only extended as far as Bullock Creek. The road along the lake front was then known as Dungannon Street
This is Ardmore St about 1900. The two buildings are the original Post Office (next door to today’s Caltex petrol station) and the first Library on the lake side of the MACPAC store (the old Fire Station).
In 1939 engineers were set to work to improve Ardmore St and eventually in 1940 funding was approved (£4,294-4-2d) but ”it was regretted that approval of the M. H. Board cannot be granted under existing conditions…”. And then they were delayed again because of a proposal to raise the lake! On and on it went until in 1961 work started at last. It was a large change to the profile of Ardmore St.
Same shops, but notice the road level compared to today – a set of steps to get to the doorway!
No more parking in the centre of the street and no grassed ‘hump’ in the middle of the street, but it was sealed at long last The junction of the streets at the bottom of Ardmore Street also changed for the better.
Work starts! Notice the power pole that was in the middle of Ardmore Street, and is that the storekeeper looking down at the change in levels and wondering how customers were going to enter the shop??
A few years later…
A very innocuous glimpse into the past about 60 years ago. The car behind the bus looks a bit like a Holden FB c1961, which helps us date the photo.
This photo tells a story about Wānaka, and possible explains why Wānaka has very few old commercial buildings – in fact only one! Can you spot it and name it? The location is on the upper part of Ardmore Street and all but one of the buildings in the photo no longer exist.
Starting from the left, the first building was the Wanaka Hall. It was opened in 1924. It replaced the Olympic Hall which was owned by the Wanaka Hotel across the street. The Wanaka Hall was financed solely by the inhabitants of Wānaka and the surrounding district. It was replaced by the Lake Wānaka Centre in 2000 which was across the street about where the original Wanaka Hotel had been erected in 1868.
Next door is Mansons Garage. It was also opened in 1924 but was then known as the Dunedin-Wanaka Motors, part of what was to become the White Star group of businesses.
The next building just behind the little green car was the dairy and dining rooms. It is the youngest structure in this photo.
Following on is the Wanaka Store, which is now known as the Four Square store and the oldest existing commercial building in the commercial centre of Wānaka. It was built by D A Jolly & Sons and opened in 1927 on the site of the original McDougall & Sons store, established in 1879. The current store is largely unchanged from 1927 except it no longer sells petrol.
The building to the side of the Mt Cook & Southern Lakes Tourist Co Ltd bus had a varied life. It started life as the house of William and Mary Allan in Tenby Street. It was moved to this site in 1910 and opened as a boarding establishment. After William’s death, his wife, Mary, sold the property in 1924 and it became the White Star Hotel, accommodating tourists brought to the town by White Star buses and motor cars. After a chequered period, including closure, it became an accommodation house and subsequently store and the first site of The National Bank of NZ Ltd.
Redevelopment of the area has only left the Four Square store standing and even the road level has dropped - you now need to climb steps to enter the Four Square Store.
