Tradesmen yesterday started to demolish a two-storey addition to the historic Frankton marina ticket office, while contractors cleared the overgrown site in preparation for restoration.
Along with the adjoining boat shed, which will have a new dual slipway for boat restoration, the office will be refurbished to include a cafe, maritime museum and outdoor seating.
It was built in the 1930s, while the former New Zealand Railways ticket office serviced steamers docking in Queenstown in the 1870s.
The result of over 10 years of preservation efforts by members of the Wakatipu Community Maritime Preservation Society, the Triple Star-managed project is benefiting from volunteered services and materials.
Warren Law, of Edge Construction, said seven contractors and tradesmen got to work after a briefing from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust on working with the heritage buildings.
Restoration was expected to finish in May and Mr Law said a lot of the hard work was out of the way.
"It's been a long time coming, but they've secured funding for it and have got all of the resource consents, and that's the most time-consuming thing," said Mr Law.
