South Dunedin's heritage is about to be put on public display, with the Dunedin City Council offering a $50,000 grant to improve the look of the area's retail hub.
On Saturday, the suburb will have a heritage "open day", an initiative of the Mayfair Theatre, the Dunedin Gasworks Museum and the council.
The open day, and the one-off $50,000 fund for building owners to use for cleaning and painting facades, and maintaining verandas, have both stemmed from the South Dunedin retail centre strategy launched in 2009 by the council's city development team.
Gasworks trustee Ann Barsby said yesterday the facility's involvement with the city development team during public consultation on the strategy had sparked its involvement in the open day.
South Dunedin's early development, as Dunedin was populated in the 1800s, meant there was plenty of built heritage in the area, and much of that had not been "tarted up and modernised", but had retained its character, she said.
The museum, the Mayfair Theatre and St Patrick's Basilica would be opened for free guided tours, and bus and traction engine rides would be on offer as well as a heritage treasure hunt.
The grant for South Dunedin building owners was announced by council urban design special projects officer Emma O'Neill.
Consultation during the development of the strategy last year showed residents were concerned about the poor appearance of buildings and the overall look of the area, and Ms O'Neill said yesterday there were "a number of buildings that need a bit of paint" in King Edward St.
She said there was no fixed maximum amount for grants, but each would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The grant offered funds for materials, equipment hire and labour towards cleaning and painting facades, and towards veranda maintenance work for building facades that faced on to King Edward St.
The initiative had been supported by Hirepool and Resene Paints Ltd through discounted equipment hire and paint purchases for successful applicants.
