SunLive is profiling some of Tauranga's historic places dotted around the city. Reporter Zoe Hunter looks at the iconic former New Zealand Post Office building on Harrington St.

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Lower Northern area manager Fiona Low says the post office was not the first building on the site.

She says the initial building burned down in 1902 and a post office and government building was erected in its place.

The historic New Zealand Post Office is an iconic building for Tauranga.

The post office and telephone exchange took up all of the ground floor, with the magistrate court office occupying most of the first floor.

Fiona says the building has national significance as the last surviving Baroque architecture-style post office building – with its exterior design illustrating a style once identifiable throughout the country.

She says the building is recognised for its architectural and historical significance, including its townscape value.

'The NZHPT's registration refers to its exuberant Baroque design.

'The building is representative of the growth in postal services prior to World War I, and notes that the building is illustrative of a period when post offices were a focal point in provincial towns.

'The historic former post office/government building is one of the iconic buildings of Tauranga.”

The building carries a New Zealand Historic Places Trust Category 1 registration; and is scheduled on the Tauranga City Plan Heritage Register.

The building also has a Heritage Covenant title providing protection, conservation and maintenance of the entire building.

Next week The Weekend Sun profiles our own building, the former Tauranga Bond Store – now No.1 The Strand.