EVELYN.THORN@cluthaleader.co.nz
Hold on a little bit longer, folks — it is nearly here.
The Te Pou o Mata-Au Clutha District Memorial & Community Centre’s official opening is now expected to be in late August. Shipping delays and supply issues have stalled its previously planned July opening.
Clutha Community Hub Charitable Trust chairman Dale Anderson said the five-year-plus project would have some interior elements open by August 3, and an official ceremony and a ribbon cutting would be held in late August.
‘‘At the moment we’re doing plenty of internal gib stopping, painting and final touches due to shipping delays putting us on pause for a bit,’’ Mr Anderson said.
He said the Calder Stewart team were also focusing on fitouts, accesses to the building, landscaping and concreting.
‘‘Although we’re still confirming dates for our official opening, some aspects including the i-Site, the coworking space, Clutha Development and the Riviera Cinema will be mostly publicly accessible on August 3 and 4.
‘‘Global shipping is still causing a lot of grief, so aspects including the war memorial will be accessible but not completed and the auditorium will be bookable from September 25.’’
Chris and Grace Rottenberry of the Riviera Cinema said last week they were were feeling ‘‘excited, scared and a bit of everything else’’.
‘‘We’ve been confirmed that the Clutha District Council will sign us off to open on August 3, but we will be open officially on August 4.
‘‘We’ll be having a trailer reel on all day until 6pm when we will screen the new Barbie movie, then Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One at 8.30pm. Then we’ll officially stream from Saturday, 10am, 7-days-a-week onward,’’ Mr Rottenberry said.
Hub chairman Mr Anderson said, outside of construction, everything was going ‘‘fantastic’’.
‘‘It’s going really good on the whole, over five years has been an absolute mission but it’s getting very very close to coming full circle.’’
He said, once opened, it would become a matter of maintaining the facilities going forward.
‘‘It’s going to be very positive — there will be so many opportunities that don’t even exist in Balclutha at the moment that will be introduced.
‘‘We’re just getting all of our ducks in a row first.’’
