A group of benefactors has spent about $100,000 to provide Dunedin students with an alcohol-free social venue and an alternative to bars and nightclubs.
The Hub, a converted warehouse in Harrow St, opens tonight with music from local student bands, a dance group and other guests.
The building is owned by the Dunedin City Elim Church and leased by The Community for Students Charitable Trust.
Trust spokesman Aaron Thomson said last night he had been advocating for such a venue for five years and actively planning one for the past two years.
Local business people and other benefactors had donated the $100,000 needed for the redevelopment of the building, he said.
The Hub was an adaptable venue designed specifically for tertiary students, people living in residential colleges and Dunedin young people, he said.
It would be available at low cost for public and private functions such as intercollege challenges, comedy nights, murder mystery evenings, karaoke nights or formal ball or presentation evenings. There would also be recreational opportunities with a climbing wall.
The ground floor was a space large enough for more than 250 people, while upstairs was a kitchen and lounge.
It was hoped the alcohol-free venue would address the student drinking culture of Dunedin in an innovative, tangible and constructive way, Mr Thomson said.
"We want to make it a normal thing to go somewhere and have fun without alcohol ... This is not a panacea, but it is one gear in the mechanism of what we hope is an intelligent response to a complex problem."
