Harley Chambers in Christchurch

This is obviously not a street but as I am recovering from an illness called Guillain Barre Syndrome that saw me in hospital for a week I am under orders not to overdo things. I will probably post some random stuff that interests me.

This is the only photo that I found on my computer for this building and I thought that I had more photos of it. The building Harley Chambers has been in the news recently as it is probably going to be demolished even though it is a heritage building. The recent article said that the building is 90 years old yet I found an article about Harley Chambers from 1931. It was a letter to the editor about the traffic problems here with a taxi stand outside the building. There was also a garage and a petrol station nearby to add to the traffic woes. Article in May 1933 solved the mystery as it mentions that the Harley medical chambers has been sold to a company called Harley Chambers Ltd and they will extend the chambers that is currently occupied by a wooden building. The new building was finished in 1934 and it was mentioned that it had given work to many of the unemployed in the city. The articles in the 1940s and 1950s were all about the shares of the company. Most ads were from dentists from 1930s onwards. The 1970s got a bit more interesting plus confusing. In 1970 there was a takeover bid for the company and I got the impression that it was a bit of a hostile takeover. In 1974 a Mr Hanna took over the company but in 1979 the company was wound up and went into liquidation because of bad debts. Mr Hanna also owned a property in Hanmer Springs called The Lodge. In 1978 there was a new owner of the building and it had been a mortgagee sale. The new owner was NZ Insurance Finance Ltd and they would restore the building to the former standard as a building for medical and dentists businesses. I was amused by a court case in 1977 where a woman was charged with running a brothel in the building. In 1984 anti abortionist picketed the because because of a doctor in this building. In the late 1980s and early 1990s there was obviously still dentists in this building as I took both my sons here for their braces on their teeth. I lost track of this building in later years and it was obviously damaged in the earthquake. Heritage New Zealand say that the original building was constructed in 1929 and extended in 1934.