For about six years the Hampden Community Energy Society has been raising funds and planning for its community workshop project, which recently began construction.
Just across the road from Hampden School, the space will act as an open facility for anybody in the community to use specialist equipment and create whatever they wish.
Society chairman Dugald MacTavish said the inspiration for the project went back about 30 years to an East Otago High School worker named Murray Askin, who would open up his double-door garage full of tools to anybody who was interested.
The space became popular with women and children, who often did not have the space or equipment to try out crafts and create what they wanted.
"You would have an 80-year-old working alongside an 8-year-old."
The man later moved away from the area, but "the seed had always been planted", Mr MacTavish said.
Mr Askin died last month.
Now a similar space was finally coming together, which he hoped would enable all kinds of crafts, including leather working, electronics, stonework, woodwork, welding and sewing.
"What we need is a creativity space where people can follow their dreams."
An orchard had already been planted and there were also plans for a garden.
He believed the workshop would be "groundbreaking".
Sharing knowledge was a driving motivator for the project, as Hampden had a hugely diverse set of skills, he said.
Many of those belonged to its large retiree population and were at risk of being lost.
"Those skills are going to go down in to the ground if we don’t capture them."
The society also ran the local recycling centre and it was "rather disturbing" to see the huge amount of usable materials and fixable goods which were being put to waste.
Much of it could be put to use, but "to upcycle, you need a place to do it".
He envisioned it to be somewhat like the facility used in the television show The Repair Shop, where skilled craftsman worked together to restore dilapidated objects, most commonly beloved heirlooms.
Society member Stuart Barnes said the town had a lot of small groups dedicated to crafts, but it was rare for them to branch out and share their skills.
The workshop would not only give the town a space to share those skills with each other, but also to the younger generation across the road.
Hampden School had been deeply involved with the project and would use the space regularly.
Young people seemed more anxious than ever and having a controlled space to work alongside others and create something they could be proud of would help boost their confidence, Mr Barnes said.
Hampden had a pub, a hall and some churches, but those were all spaces where the community would get together for a specific reason.
The town had no space where older people could casually socialise with the young and relationships could be built among anyone who liked to create.
Hampden School principal Matt Hannagan said the space would be invaluable for pupils.
The facility aligned well with the school’s goal to strengthen its relationship with the wider Hampden community, as well as the national curriculum, which detailed the need for pupils to be confident, actively involved and lifelong learners.
With the workshop across the road the school would not have to pay for buses to access an alternative and inclusive learning environment, which was an exciting prospect, he said.
The project was estimated to cost about $350,000, most of which had been granted by funders, Mr MacTavish said.
The foundations of the workshop had been laid and the rafters and concrete were scheduled to go in soon.
The rest of the build, including the roof and walls, would be up to the community, Mr MacTavish said. "We’re confident it will come together."
The group was still looking for donations to equip the workshop and volunteers to help build it.
The council has leased the land to the society for 35 years.
The land was originally dedicated for community activities, but was previously leased for grazing.
