He is dipping into his own funds to have the site tidied up.
"I'm fed up with all the negative comments regarding the Greymouth CBD, and it all originated from this derelict building. I want the town to look tidy and it doesn't with this elephant in the room," Mr Kokshoorn said this morning.
Although the old pub has been empty for a couple of years, it only started to look particularly rundown when the owners removed the main veranda structure after the Grey District Council deemed it to be unsafe.
However, that left a series of rusting steel beams exposed to public view, at the entrance to the main shopping centre.
"It has made the hotel a real eyesore and there's been a backlash against the town, especially on social media."
The mayor contacted the Revingtons owners in Nelson and got permission to clean up the frontage of the building and give it a bit of a repaint. He expects it will cost about $1500.
"I'm paying for it all out of my own pocket; this has nothing to do with council," Mr Kokshoorn said.
With an ice cold wind blowing, the mayor and two workmen were on the job first thing this morning, pulling down the rusting remains of the veranda and chipping away weeds that have sprouted in the gutters.
The owners have applied for resource consent to demolish the building, but that has been opposed by Heritage New Zealand and the Greymouth Heritage Trust.
He expects that will mean a long and drawn out process, with the building deteriorating more by the day, so he decided something had to be done to make it less of an eyesore.
"We'll tidy it up the best way we can while the powers that be argue it out."
- By Chris Tobin
