The pedestrian track, constructed from native timbers, is registered as a category 1 historic place and an estimated $400,000 was spent preserving it and putting it in a temperature and humidity-controlled display unit.
The structure was discovered in 2008 during demolition of the former Deka building in George St, where the Wall Street Mall is now situated.
The 12m-long and 4m-wide corduroy causeway, constructed between 1848 and 1859, is the earliest known example of a substantial corduroy road in New Zealand and is considered to have outstanding archaeological significance at a national level.
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$400,000 for some manuka sticks that helped keep people's feet drier. No doubt these are scattered around all of the lower reaches of the city but the ratepayers have had to cough up $400k for this wowser project. Nationally important, yeah nah.
If you mean teetotal, most certainly. WCTU would have walked that way.
So no one in council sat back for 30 seconds and wondered what else they could have spent $400,000 on?
Couldn't have built a couple of units to add to Dunedin's social housing? Nope, no housing crisis in Dunedin.
Couldn't have spent a bit of that restoring the sand dunes at St Clair and Middle beaches? Nope, the land is fine and who cares if sea inundates South Dunedin.
Couldn't have repaired at least part of one of Dunedin's crumbling sewers? Nope, nothing to see here - and sewers aren't worth a photo op.
No, far better to dry out some smelly sticks and encase that in glass and concrete. What an amazing misuse of rateppayers money.
Good job it wasn't on the same scale as Jorvik in York. Still, we need to preserve what little history we have.