Funds for jail restoration

Wakatipu Heritage Trust chairwoman Susan Stevens, of Gibbston, and trustee David Clarke, of...
Wakatipu Heritage Trust chairwoman Susan Stevens, of Gibbston, and trustee David Clarke, of Arrowtown, spend time inside the Arrowtown Jail. Photo by James Beech.
The restoration of the 136-year-old Arrowtown Jail has been kickstarted with $5000 of proceeds from celebrations last October marking the 150th anniversary of Arrowtown.

Arrowtown 150 committee chairman Peter Doyle presented two cheques to the Wakatipu Heritage Trust at the trust's monthly meeting in the Queenstown Lakes District Council chambers yesterday.

The first cheque of $5000 will be put towards the restoration of the registered gold mining-era jail, which looks set to begin in earnest after a conservation plan by architect and conservator Ian Bowman, of Nelson and Wellington, was received by heritage trustees yesterday.

A second cheque of $5000 was given by Mr Doyle on behalf of the committee to the Lakes District Museum for the first upgrade to the existing geology and music displays since the 1970s.

Museum director David Clarke said a more visual display with an emphasis on glaciation and ice floes was tipped for the geology upgrade.

The museum and gallery in Arrowtown will introduce a new virtual tour of some of its displays on its website later this month and potentially on a screen beside the entrance to encourage patronage.

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