The Petone police stations changing role: 1909 ? 2009
The Petone Historic Police Station is currently the office of the Jackson Street Programme, but the 1909 building has a portable history. On October 17 the station will have stood for 100 years. Jackson Street Programme director Rob Hutton says the station has over 1000 visitors per year and plays an important role in promoting the area. ?It?s like the de-facto i-site for Jackson Street. ?We get both local people asking for things like the community house, and international visitors inquiring about the area,? says Mr Hutton. Petone Historical Society secretary Roy Hewson says passengers on the first three immigrant ships to New Zealand in 1838 were the first to organise a police force in Petone. New Zealand Company officials had been warned it was illegal to establish any system of government independent of the Crown, but passengers signed a constitution saying settlers could preserve the peace. The ?Petone Republic? did not last long. ?The Hobson folk came down like a tonne of bricks upon that idea,? says Mr Hewson. He says until 1943, the Petone station was in charge of the entire Hutt Valley police force. Initially the police building was located on Elizabeth Street, but had suffered flooding after heavy rain. In the early days, alcohol was the biggest problem. ?It was purpose built with four cells, and up until 1972 they used it to house mainly drunks,? says Mr Hewson. The station was officially closed in 1988 and staff moved to Lower Hutt with a handful of staff staying on in Petone. In 1993, the then coordinator of the Jackson Street Programme, Roy Cox, worked with the local police to acquire the 1909 police station and lockup in Elizabeth Street, where they were becoming derelict. With community help the two buildings were shifted to their current position (the former Petone Central School site). At the same time the Old Grand Nash Hotel was also relocated to Jackson Street. A Councillor at the time, Mr Hewson says the point of the move was to add another piece of heritage to the main street. ?It was available and we didn?t want it to be lost. ?It was taken on by the community, and they laid all the concrete foundations for it at little or no cost. ?The buildings create another place of interest in the street,? he says. The police station has the office of the Jackson Street Programme and the jail became a small museum run by the Petone Historic Society. Roy Hewson will give a talk on the history of the station on October 17 from 10am.
