After a year of planning and reports, work has started on conserving the old Phoenix flour mill water wheel in Mill Rd.
On Saturday, a Whitestone Contracting digger and truck started preparing temporary access, including a bridge across a creek, to the 10m-diameter steel and wooden water wheel so volunteers, supported by Oamaru businesses, could start dismantling the water wheel this weekend.
The aim of the project is to clear rubble from around the 1878 wheel, repair damage, then reinstall it as a visitor attraction.
The water wheel used to power the Phoenix flour mill and is the only structure that remains, although foundation stones of the original building, removed in 1905, remain visible in the ground.
In recent decades, the water wheel has deteriorated to the point there were fears it could eventually collapse.
Along came Dick Pringle, who admits to a fascination with water wheels, and who donated $10,000 towards the project.
Then, with the North Otago branch of the Historic Places Trust, he helped set up the Phoenix Mill Restoration Trust, an organisation to raise money and gain support from volunteers and local businesses.
Trust member Carol Berry emphasised the project was not to restore the water wheel to working order, but to conserve it. The first step was to get access to the water wheel and clear ground around it.
The next step would be to dismantle the water wheel, which was built in segments with 84 iron buckets and wooden spokes.
Rubble would be cleared from around the base of the wheel. The wheel would then be assessed for damage and rust before being repaired.
The stone and wooden supporting wall would be strengthened and restored, then the wheel put back in place with new Oregon timber spokes.
Mr Pringle said the time the work would take depended on weather and the volunteers, but he hoped it would be completed this summer.
