This is quite a massive building for a small town like Hokitika, which is about 30 minutes from Greymouth. To me it looks a bit foreboding but being a former government building named "Seddon House" it's classed as a category 1 and was completed in the Edwardian Baroque style in 1913. Designed by architect John Campbell it covered the need at the time of a new courthouse and other government departments.
Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward laid the foundation stone in 1908. Construction of the first half of the building was finished in 1909 and plans for the second half were not drawn up until November 1911. The original plans had both a Magistrates Court on the ground floor with a Supreme Court above. However in 1911 the Supreme Court was transferred to Greymouth so the plans were redrawn to contain a boardroom instead. The courtroom was closed in the 1970s due to the restructuring by the then Ministry of Justice. In 2015 it was sold to three Auckland investors and then put back on the market in 2017. In 2020 it was purchased by Heritage New Zealand and is apparently going through some earthquake strengthening to be used the Department of Conservation.
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