H. V. Leighton Building, 73-75 Gill Street (1943)

This building was constructed for H. V Leighton - cabinetmaker, upholsterer, motor body builder etc.

The building was badly damaged in a fire on the morning of 15 November 1943. A permit was issued to Leighton on 7 December 1943 for the "reinstatement" of the building. Boon Bros. were the contractors and the cost £250.

It is one of only a few early-mid twentieth century reinforced concrete buildings remaining on Gill Street.

In the early 1970s Telecom moved into the building - complete with a red phone box in the middle of the workshop. In the mid-1970s the building was bought by Neville Adlam, and he opened Adlam Citroën. The building's frontage had to be moved back from the footpath in expectation of future road widening. In the 1980s Adlam redeveloped it into a glass-fronted showroom that was subject to vandalism due to the Rainbow Warrior bombing and the business's apparent 'French-connection'. In 2022 Steve and Mike Ekdahl purchased the building and it is now occupied by the sandwich & coffee bar, 'Crop & Brew'. (Ekdahl Property Management Facebook post)

Related items:

Town Section 871, Taranaki Land Deed Index I5 Page 68. (Archives New Zealand)

Dissolution Of Partnership (Taranaki Herald 13 April 1946)