Following the success of the Taieri Blokes' Shed, which opened at the Taieri Airfield last year, a new shed is set to be opened at Kings High School in Bay View Rd tomorrow by Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin.
Based on the Australian model of "men's sheds", the Dunedin model was open to both men and women or "blokes and honorary blokes", organiser Lieutenant-commander Phil Bradshaw said.
Originally mooted as a place where participants could tinker in a fully equipped shed, the idea had evolved to one of helping the local community.
One recent project from the Taieri Blokes' Sheds members was constructing walkway bridges for the Orokonui Ecosanctuary, he said.
"People are coming to it because of the community aspect."
The $10 annual fee gives the members, who could be novices or former cabinet-makers, access to thousands of dollars worth of donated tools - "from minor hand tools to metalwork lathes", he said.
The former tractor shed at Kings High School had been re-lined and its power connected, and as part of the group's agreement with the school, members would help make props for the annual production, he said.
Sheds for Alexandra and Wanaka were being investigated and more were likely to be established in Dunedin.
