The original building of the old Arthurs Point Tavern will stand for little more than eight days, as former Queenstown Lakes district councillor Rick Pettit hopes to have the site cleared by the end of next week.
Demolition of the 1882-established tavern started last Monday, the two modern parts of the building being torn down by the weekend.
Mr Pettit told the Otago Daily Times that after the archaeologist had looked through the oldest part of the tavern, workers would be able to take it down and have the site cleared in the next seven days.
He said he was in "no rush" to make plans for the 500sq m block across the road.
The pub has been in a state of disrepair since it closed in 2008. It was thought to be one of the oldest licensed premises in the South Island but began to decay when it lost its licence.
Business partners Pettit, Wayne McKeague and Paul Halford own the former tavern, which has been empty since it closed.
Employed by Mr Pettit, archaeologist Andrew Winter and architect Jackie Gillies looked through the building yesterday.
Through the next week, he intends to take records as each layer is stripped away, making an account of the work that has been done on the building over time.
The building has been given a level 3 rating by the archaeologists' authority, and so recordings must be out of the way for the building to be given the "all-clear" and completely demolished.
Mr Winter hoped the process would not take long.
"I couldn't give an hour-by-hour, day-to-day ballpark figure of when we will be done. Right now it is a backwards and forwards procedure."
Queenstown Lakes District Council project manager Lane Vermaas on Thursday said the council was happy with progress on the section.
"At least everyone's honoured their word," he said.
Mr Vermaas said the time it would take to get the council's planned dual-bridge under way would depend on funding from the New Zealand Transport Association, which has been held up by pressure from Christchurch earthquake developments.
"It will be a massive improvement as far as safety is concerned."
Arthurs Point local of 14 years Alan Davis said the feeling in the community was residents were pleased to see the building come down, as it "has just been an eyesore".
"In its heyday it was a very special pub. It was a hangout for those working at Coronet, and the restaurant would be jam-packed from 4 o'clock onwards."
He said right up until it closed, the pub had been a community meeting point.
"You could always guarantee a local, hearty atmosphere."
He said despite the fact the pub was only a few kilometres out of town, it offered a "country feel" that was different from the town bars.
He said the township was "really keen" to know what Mr Pettit had planned for the small section across the road.
In 2009, the Queenstown Times reported the business partners and owners intended to build a commercial development.
The general feeling of the community was residents would like to see a small "local lounge go up where they can pop to for a hot drink, a beer or to grab your everyday supply of milk and bread".
Whatever took place in the vacant block, the main feeling among locals was they wanted to see it done "tastefully", he said.
Mr Davis said the past eight to 10 years in particular had been huge in terms of growth in the Arthurs Point community.
He said when he moved there just 14 years ago, he could count the number of local residents on one hand. Things had since "gone ballistic".
For this reason, Mr Davis said plans for Mr Pettit's next development should take into consideration the growing population of the district.
