One of Aotearoa’s oldest yacht clubs is appealing for donations to hoist $500,000 to earthquake-proof its 35-year-old building by July.
The overhanging Stepneyville building which houses Nelson Yacht Club was indicated by a local engineering firm in September 2022 that it could be earthquake-prone after discovering a bracing shortfall.
Club manager Tim Fraser-Harris says the 167-year-old club elected itself to an assessment of the building, which opened in 1989 after it was previously based at the current Nahm restaurant site. The assessment found the building was likely to be under 34 per cent of the national building standard.
“[The engineering firm] basically said that the deficiencies were pretty clear and that the [earthquake strengthening] needed to be done,” Tim says.
“Currently, it’s suspected to be an earthquake-prone building… the engineering firm drew up working designs and we submitted a building consent exemption to the council, which was approved.
“After trying to get all our other ducks in a row, we’ll put together the funding as soon as we can.”
Tim said the club had made grant applications to help fund the strengthening project, and had also launched a Givealittle page.
“We’re going to search within the community for people who’ve had a connection to the club to come forward and make donations, and we’ll do fundraising events to pull together the rest [of the funds],” he says.
“The club currently has around 420 members… and the facility and building support a huge array of different people who aren’t members, it’s a real community facility… it ranges to 4000 people each year who use it. The story is about the community saving a community facility and all of the people who are involved in different activities that take place here.”
Tim said, after a tender process a contractor was lined up for strengthening work in July, subject to achieving sufficient funding.
He says the work would be done with minimal disruption to club activities and stakeholders like Nahm restaurant in the neighbouring building.
“If we are unable to fund and get the strengthening, then that’s when we would have to reassess the use of the building and make the decision with the club on what happens next, we’re confident and very hopeful that we can pull it together.”
