Trust has new grandstand plan

Supporters of an historic Golden Bay grandstand hope a new proposal to restore and maintain the old building will be accepted.

The Golden Bay Grand Stand Community Trust submitted a proposal to the Tasman District Council (TDC) on Thursday, to retain the grandstand at the Takaka rec centre.

Under its proposal, trust president Duncan McKenzie said it hoped to gain tenure of the building and be responsible for maintenance and restoration works.

‘‘The grandstand trust will tidy it all up and restore it, but if the council decide to pull it down, it will be at their cost, and they can’t just bulldoze it down, but will do it bit by with archeologists present.’’

The council gave the trust a three month opportunity to prepare a formal proposal, including a preservation and restoration plan giving precedence to heritage values over community use, and a plan to raise the requisite funds.

It also said the demolition work of the squash courts and kitchen would be completed at the trust’s cost.

Financial pledges for seats and other donations totalling $30,000 have been received by the trust in the past three months, which would help pay for the restoration work.

McKenzie said the trust couldn’t apply for funding yet because it didn’t own the building, which is why it wanted to gain tenure of it.

A conservation plan was prepared by architect and conservator Ian Bowman, and report on the conservation work by engineer Peter Smith, were included in the proposal.

Bowman wrote that the building had ‘‘high rarity values’’ as one of five known grandstand buildings built prior to 1900, still standing on its original site.

Smith said inspection found some confidence that the extent of any deterioration was ‘‘modest’’.

McKenzie said the trust appreciated the efforts of environment and planning manager, Dennis Bush-King, and looked forward to continuing the momentum with a ‘‘productive ongoing relationship’’ with the TDC.

TDC spokesman Chris Choat said the council had received the proposal.

‘‘It’s quite complex, so we haven’t had a chance to look to look at it, but we will be and then reporting at the full council meeting on November 16.’’