The owner of a proposed new Queenstown bar and restaurant has applied for resource consent to make changes to a heritage building in Queenstown Mall.
Ballarat Equities Ltd is planning to operate The Ballarat Trading Company in the former National Bank building, which is categorised a level 3 heritage building by the Queenstown Lakes District Council in Queenstown's special character precinct.
The application says the company wants to alter the internal and external appearance of the building and alter signs.
It says the renovation would tie in with the building's historic heritage.
The premises would be restored to resemble an 1850s trading post.
"The name The Ballarat Trading Company was chosen to emphasise the historic nature of the bar and locale and to help align the premises with the original character of the mall," it says.
Several modern features would be removed, including the glass windows and doors.
They would be replaced with wooden bi-folding doors.
Inside, a bar, fireplace, booths, leaners, bathroom and kitchen facilities would be built.
The application concludes the alterations were not likely to have more than minor adverse effects on the environment.
A separate application to operate licensed premises has been received by Lakes Environmental.
A heritage and urban character assessment by Queenstown heritage architect Jackie Gillies said of the original heritage fabric, only a schist wall remained.
She recommended it be retained.
The building, built in 1872, was originally the Queenstown Athenaeum and Town Hall.
It became a cinema in 1913 and a shopping arcade in 1972.
She had recorded and photographed other features when the bank fit out had been removed, before they were covered up again.
She gave her overall approval to the application, which complied with the Queenstown Town Centre guidelines. The building is not categorised as a historic building by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
