Out of Time: The Arts Centre Loan and the Dux De Lux Saga (Part 3)

Council did consider making a loan to The Arts Centre for repairing the former Dux but Bruce Rendall's December memorandum would deliver the killer blow.

The months had rolled by since, in June 2023, the council had agreed to explore how it could help with the restoration of the Dux. Bruce Rendall’s December memorandum would kill the mayor’s idea of an Arts Centre loan and adding it to the Long-Term Plan.

“When assistance options were discussed (grant, loan, nothing) Phillip indicated a loan was acceptable, and this didn’t need to be in the first two years of the LTP. They would look to repay the loan through rent from the facility. At this stage they would seek the 2/3 form the Lotteries (heritage) and 1/3 form a tenant prepaying rent.”

Bruce Rendall’s notes of a meeting with the Arts Centre’s Director, Philip Aldridge

“According to Aldridge, the building had formerly been a doctor’s cottage. Over time, the structure had been added to, and Aldridge believed they could reduce the former’s Dux’s footprint.”

NZR

By November, Rendall had completed the memo and it was added to the public agenda for 12 December’s council hearing. But Samantha Kelly, the Team Leader for Hearings and Committee Support, had other ideas.