Thames (NZ): How to find out more about Thames Homes

Do you live in Thames? Maybe your parents or grandparents had a house in Thames. Or maybe you want to look at building details of a shop or premises in the town? Did you know you can view old historical documents free online?

I have chosen the example of the King's Theatre at the Grahamstown end of town. In 1941, R Twentyman applied to the Thames Borough Council to undertake renovations to the building. The plumbing work was to be undertaken by Battson's. The plans of the building were attached to a written consent. Where can you find this information?

 Go to the Thames Coromandel District Council website and look for 'consent tracker.' The link can be found here. On the right hand side of the page click 'TRACK YOUR APPLICATION.'

In the APPLICATION TYPE box...select ALL
Now to Street Name and number and town. If not sure of the number, then enter a block, or alternatively just give Street name. eg. Queen Street or put 700 to 750 Queen Street and see your results. This example allows you to find changes that have been made to The Treasury aka Carnegie Library building.

A list of the available applications will now show, click on one to view.
The example for the 1941 King's Theatre is below. Click on DOCUMENTS to view available building plans and correspondence. This is where I found the building plans shown above,

BACKGROUND on the KING's Theatre:
The building was opened on 30 January 1913. It was considered state of the art for the time, including having electricity throughout the building - generated with power from Judd's Foundry. The movies of the day were silent movies, supplemented with many live acts and shows.

The building is still in use as a movie theatre, although many more renovations have taken place over the years.

Further information available at The Treasury, Thames - see Pre 1930 Business Folders and Thames Homes photos
The Kete Hauaraki Coromandel Website has also a large collection of photos of Thames homes and businesses.