Council loan helps Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust develop Historic Precinct

The Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust is another step closer to realising its vision of making the historic precinct a must-see destination for visitors with a $500,000 loan from the Waitaki District Council.

 

Council approved the loan at the LTCCP meeting on Tuesday to support the work of the Trust in bringing the historic buildings up to a tenantable standard and make improvements to those already tenanted.

 

“The Council has made the funding available in the spirit of partnership and to acknowledge that we are moving forward together,” said Mayor Alex Familton. “Council and the Trust acknowledge the hard work from previous Trust members and volunteers that has created the platform for this to happen. The basis for Council making the loan is the recognition that we have assets in the historic precinct which will bring valuable returns to the rate payer.”

 

Council has agreed to support the financing costs of the loan up to a maximum of $60,000.

 

Trust Chairman, Phil Hope said the funding provides the Trust with the ability to flesh out the Trust’s strategic plan.

 

“Our vision is to make the historic precinct a vibrant place and a must-see destination for visitors. Our first priority is to attract more tenants to the buildings in the precinct and in order to do that we need to upgrade some of them to make them viable.”

 

He said the specific projects the Trust would now be able to attend to immediately were putting a fire escape in the Loan and Mercantile building and a sprinkler system into Maudes Store.

 

“There’s much more to do but the Council funding will enable the Trust to leverage other public funds.”