Old Haven Rd church getting new lease on life

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A historic church on Haven Rd is being brought back to life, thanks to a local photographer who is passionate about preserving Nelson’s history.

Jose Cano brought the old Seafarers Mission building last year, and has been working with a local carpenter and Arthouse Architects ever since to bring it back to its former glory.

“The idea is to recover it and bring it back to life,” says Jose. “When we found it, it was covered with asbestos. Now we are basically taking out the boards and replacing them. It’s a big job of love.”

The building is currently off its foundations and will be moved on to a newly-constructed base soon.

Originally constructed in native timber, Jose says that they have been able to recover a lot of the rimu from The Guards Sea Services’ boatshed, which has recently been pulled down.

“Nothing gets wasted. Most of it is in very good condition, which shows just how durable native timber is. Once it’s finished it will be a beautiful place – it has beautiful big arch supporting the roof.”

Jose says there are not many records of the building, but he believes it was built sometime in the 1890s.

“It has been many things – the Seafarers’ chapel originally, a diesel engine repair workshop and an upholstery shop,” he says. But Jose will be taking a different direction with the building and is hoping to turn the space into a cafe, which he will lease out.

“It’s a nice space with lots of parking and it’s close to the sea. It needs to go back to having people inside it.

“I took it on because Nelson is at risk of losing many old buildings. It’s hard to restore them, there is no help and the cheapest option is usually to pull them down and build something else, so I thought it would be a pity if it was lost. These building are good for Nelson and need to be treated differently.”

Jose says they still have about six months of work ahead of them, but are not going to rush the process.

“We cannot rush these things, and I hope that we will have more buildings restored in Nelson.”