An historic 130-year-old building is being refurbished as part of Ashburton College’s $62 million rebuild.
The historic Menorlue house is having some work done and will be put to use by the music department.
Some of the $62m for the college rebuild is being used to upgrade, and Preece said the Ministry of Education had chipped in some additional funds for the renovations of the Ministry-owned building.
The building was part of the original land holding in 1893 and Preece said it has a group B heritage classification so was being retained on site – along with its iconic dome.
“The challenge we face is it’s a very old building riddled with borer with a lot of character features.”
The building’s acoustics lends itself towards the music department, he said.
“The music department has already operated in there, setting up a recording studio, and a drum and keyboard space, so musically it suits their needs.
“It will be painted externally and the brick chimneys will come down, but we are retaining the bricks to be reused somewhere else on campus.
“Apart from the chimneys we are not changing the exterior, and it will be insulated inside as much as possible.”
Once stage 1 is completed Menorlue will form part of the arts precinct, he said
Menorlue is out of commission for term 1 he said while it is refurbished and it is hoped it will be operational for term 2.
The rest of stage one, which Preece said Arowhenua had approved the naming of the new block of 32 classroom spaces as the Rangitata block, is due for completion on November 16.
“That will allow us to move in before Christmas and allow for the significant demolition of S block to happen over the school holidays.”
The yet-to-be-named block 2, also 32 classroom spaces, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024.
Te Whare Wānanga, the centre for Te Reo Māori and Tikanga Māori, will be relocated next to the administration building.
The Rangitata block will be home to science, maths, and the Te Whare Manaaki special needs unit.

• By Jonathan Leask