The bright orange glow of a Dunedin country pub is history.
Couple Tony Bennett and Tania Proffit bought the Clarks Junction Hotel on State Highway 87 between Outram and Middlemarch to run it as a cafe and bar.
They have owned the business since January 29 and have renamed it Clarks Junction Cafe Bar.
Since taking ownership, the business has been closed for renovations.
Mr Bennett said the first job was to paint the exterior - replacing the bright orange and blue exterior colours.
"It had to go immediately.''
The roof was now coloured a shade of grey and the exterior walls were beige.
The feedback from the community on the colour change had been positive, he said.
"They're stoked - there hasn't been one bad comment.''
The renovation plan included knocking out a window opposite the fireplace to install a ranch slider.
A new 4sq m deck would be built on the other side of the ranch slider for patrons to use.
The renovations include a new bar top and corrugated iron cladding behind the fireplace.
The business would no longer offer accommodation as the four hotel rooms were in dire need of renewal.
The focus of the renovation would be to get the cafe and bar open, he said.
Before taking on the business, Mr Bennett worked in the logging industry in Southland.
The couple had renovated their home in Lorneville, near Invercargill, and after selling it, saw the pub for sale and "thought it would be a good challenge'', Mr Bennett said.
Neither of them had owned a pub before.
When Mr Bennett, a born-and-raised Southlander, was asked who he would support when Otago plays Southland for the Ranfurly Shield in Dunedin in August, he replied: "I'll just say `go the Highlanders' - I'll support Southland but I can't see them winning.
"They're not having a good run but it might be their year.''
The business was expected to be open at the start of April.
SHAWN.MCAVINUE @thestar.co.nz
