Hard-hat tours mark School of Music Milestone

The Nelson School Of Music has reached a significant milestone in its fundraising efforts with the announcement that it now has $600,000 in public donations and sponsorship towards the earthquake strengthening and rebuild project. The fundraising campaign was launched in June with an ambitious target of $1.4 million dollars.

Fundraising chair Colleen Marshall said the fundraising committee has been working hard, asking for gifts and giving presentations to groups around the Nelson region.

“We’ve had a very positive response - to have raised 43 percent of our target in just five months, mainly from personal gifting, is a measure of the strong support the School of Music enjoys in our community,” she said. “We’ve had a successful art raffle and movie screening and we are now planning a series of fundraising events, largely set to take off from February next year.”

The School’s fundraising efforts will round off this year with two afternoons of hard-hat tours, which event organiser Bob Bickerton said would give people a final chance to inspect the School prior to the start of construction early in the New Year.

“This is the final chance for a behind the scenes look at the old School of Music as it was built in 1901,” he said. “There are some really interesting and spooky parts of the School to be explored on the tour, which will include back stage, the infamous ‘Harry Potter’ room and a scary encounter inside the organ.”

Design for the School redevelopment is nearing completion and construction is expected to start in February, subject to the outcome of a Lottery Grants Board application.

Nelson School Of Music chair Roger Taylor said the redevelopment design provided an ‘exciting and intelligent balance’ between the heritage aspects of the old auditorium and functionality of a modern performance venue and music school.

The redevelopment includes enhancing and strengthening the 1901 auditorium up to modern building code, removal of the current foyer, Balling Theatre and Rainey House and replacement with a new foyer area that showcases the old auditorium, reconfiguration of the Beatrice Kidson block and construction of a new wing to house a performance/rehearsal area, studios, classroom and a library.

Hard hat tours are set for Saturday 28 November and Sunday 29 November, from 12noon to 4pm each day, and will start from Rainey House behind the School in Collingwood Street.

Tours are priced at $10 each or $20 for a family and can be booked in advance by emailing admin@nsom.ac.nz or calling 548-9477; they will run every half hour on the half hour.

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