Waka tours to paddle the Avon River
Waka will join Christchurch’s famous gondolas as a tourist attraction on the city’s Avon River.
Ma¯ori cultural experience company Ko Ta¯ ne will launch the venture from a $3.5 million cultural centre at 794 Colombo St in 2020.
The site was purchased from Crown-owned company O¯ ta¯ karo for an undisclosed sum following a request for proposals.
Ko Ta¯ne directors Dave Brennan and Mark Willis said construction of the riverside centre, Puari Village, would start mid year and open in spring 2020.
‘‘The aim is to create a worldclass interactive tourism attraction that tells the story of the O¯ ta¯karo [Avon] River and people that have come to make the river their home over the past centuries,’’ Brennan said.
The centre would include exhibitions, art and contemporary Ma¯ ori cuisine, and be a base for city and waka tours with a focus on sites of cultural significance to Ma¯ ori.
In 2016, Nga¯ i Tahu abandoned plans for a cultural centre in Victoria Square – one of the anchor projects in the Christchurch blueprint.
The iwi said at the time it was focusing on earthquake recovery ‘‘at wha¯nau level’’. Social projects, such as a recent Addington housing relocation scheme, were a higher priority.
‘‘For this reason we have shifted away from plans for a central CBD cultural facility and are not pursuing funding for such a project at this time,’’ Nga¯ i Tahu chief executive Arihia Bennett said at the time.
A spokesman for O¯ ta¯ karo said the sale of the Colombo St site to Ko Ta¯ ne was not connected to the Nga¯ i Tahu plan.
In 2016 Ko Ta¯ ne responded to a ‘‘request for proposal’’ by O¯ ta¯ karo Limited for a hospitality business to attract visitors.
Its plan for a cultural centre and waka paddling business quickly became the preferred option, the spokesman said.
O¯ ta¯ karo chief executive John Bridgman said the Colombo St site, opposite Victoria Square, was ideal for the Ko Ta¯ne venture.
‘‘The City Promenade has proved a hit since we opened it in November but it’s the private developments like this, that sit alongside it, that will make it a true asset for Christchurch.’’
Ko Ta¯ ne has operated at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve for 13 years, providing Ma¯ ori cultural experiences, including kapa haka and ha¯ ngi meals to visitors.
Willis said the venture was a big step for the company and there was a ‘‘huge element of commercial risk’’ but they were heartened by the support and goodwill they had received.