Contractor Naylor Love’s nearing completion on the main rebuild of Speight’s Ale House, housed in one of the resort’s most iconic buildings, which was destroyed by fire last March.
It took until December for Queenstown’s council to grant building and resource consent for the $4million-plus project to reinstate the Heritage New Zealand category-2 listed building, which dates back to 1881, owned by former mayor and mayoress Warren and Lorraine Cooper.
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APL Property director Dan Cruickshank says the project’s going to plan — and they’ve even managed to find one particularly special new heritage feature.
Following the fire, caused by an electrical fault in the kitchen, the building was completely gutted, which involved removing the wooden floorboards.
But Cruickshank says the team was lucky to obtain "like-for-like" Totara timber to replace it.
The new flooring, which has been installed, comes from logs felled in the lower North Island in the 1800s — the trees are believed to date back about 2500 years — which were never recovered.
Instead, they were preserved in riverbeds till their recovery for use in the building was approved by iwi and the Ministry of Primary Industries.
Kitchen appliances have been placed and there’s some colour on the walls, "but there’s still a lot to do".
That includes installation of the front-of-house joinery, being built offsite, and furniture.
As much as possible was salvaged after the fire, and will be "tarted up" and reinstated, Frew says.
"To be honest with you, it’s been a long process.
"It’s mighty pleasing that it’s coming to an end."
But Frew’s indebted to the community for the support over what’s been an incredibly tough 18 months or so for him, his wife, Rhonda, the Coopers and his staff.
"Everyone has been very, very supportive ... it’s been lovely."
Cruickshank says the goal is to have the final council inspections completed early this month, with the last of the hoarding and scaffolding coming down mid-month.
Frew says staff recruitment is under way — he’s planning a couple of "trial runs" to help them get up to speed before the doors officially reopen. That’s likely to be mid-to-late September.
