Former payroll and accounts staff who worked in a historic building at the Hillside workshops reunited to tell their stories on site on Saturday.
The two-storey building, believed to date back to the 1920s, was to be demolished before the Southern Heritage Trust bought it for $1 from KiwiRail.
Now, it has a future after a generous donation from Peter and Mary Wells, of the Takutai Trust.
They had their stories from their time working in the building recorded so they would become a part of its history.
One of those who came on Saturday, Stuart Penny, who worked there from 1960 to 1981, said he had a lot of memories associated with the place.
He began his tenure there as a clerical cadet and contributed to handling the manual payroll for more than 1000 of the workshops’ staff.
"It was a great place to work and the staff were all brilliant here," he said.
It meant everything to him that the building was now being saved.
Second-generation Hillside staff member Don Britt makes sure he comes down every second year to see the building.
He said not many workshops like it were around any more across the country.
The building is being refurbished by Dunedin firm Naylor Love, which originally built it.
The top floor will become the heritage trust’s office space and the bottom floor will be tenanted to two groups next year.
