ACTIVATION

Built for the Anchor Shipping & Foundry Company and designed by Nelson architect Arthur Griffin, it is one of the few reminders left of the heavy industry and shipping that once filled the port. It is on the Heritage New Zealand List as a Category 2 historic place.

It is also earthquake-prone. That is an official status: the building has been assessed as likely to fail in a moderate earthquake, and a notice is attached to it. Until that is fixed, nobody can safely use it.

Strengthening an old building is expensive. New steel and foundations have to be fitted inside walls that must be kept. It costs more than building new, and when it is done the building looks much the same. But without it the building stays shut – and a shut building on the waterfront helps nobody.

The plan would strengthen it to remove the earthquake-prone building status, and repair it at the same time. The work sits in Stage 1 because the sheds beside it must come down before the path can run through, so it makes sense to do it all at once. The ground floor is fitted out where the sheds were, and new verandahs allow more than one tenant.

About 240m² on each of its two levels could then be leased.