Post Office to Health Centre

Building excellence
The Hastings Health Centre is located in the old Post Office building.  Derelict following its abandonment by postal services, the founding group decided it was the ideal location to develop a high quality facility of excellent design and visibility.

Developers Wallace Developments Ltd, with Chibnall Swann Team Architects rose to the challenge and transformed the building into the beautiful place that today supports and enhances the experiences of patients and staff.

A key service
Owned by Tobias Hicks, the first post office doubled as a general store and opened for business on the corner of Karamu Road and Heretaunga Street in 1871. With the advent of a rail service to Hastings, the post office was relocated to the railway station in Russell Street. It then became known as the Hastings Post Office with its postmaster also acting as stationmaster and telegraphist.

It was not until 1896 that a dedicated post office opened on the corner of Queen and Russell Streets.  A decade later, with the population of Hastings now 5,000, the wooden post office was no longer adequate and the decision was made to replace it with a two-storey brick building. The building, surmounted with an impressive clock tower, was declared open on January 24th, 1910.

The Hawke's Bay 1931 Earthquake brought the tower crashing to the ground, damaging the rest of the building. The clock mechanism was salvaged and reused in the commemorative clock tower, which now stands in the town centre. The building façade was reconstructed in its current “stripped classical” design. The postal service continued on this site until government restructuring of regional mail services in the 1990’s.

Today, The Hastings Health Centre is proud to honour fine design and tradition by continuing to provide essential services in Hastings.