Going up

Addressing invited guests, Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust chairman Graeme Clark opens a long-awaited addition to the massive 1882 trust-owned Loan and Merc building in Harbour St — a four-person limited-access goods lift.

 

The trust owns 16 140-year-old buildings in the town’s Victorian precinct.

 

The lift will allow the building to cater to modern business demands.

 

The second floor of the landmark building has been vacant since late last year, when the former tenant, the New Zealand Whisky Company, announced it would move its Oamaru barrel storage and bottling to the nearby Northern Hotel, in Tyne St.