A fund-raiser event, to help rebuild one of the region’s most iconic buildings, is gearing up for Friday, July 27, at the ‘Jazz and Soul for the Boathouse’ concert, at The Granary in Founders Park.
Amie-Jo Trayes, manager for The Boathouse Nelson says, “we want to keep the momentum of The Boathouse still alive. The building holds a lot of sentiment for many people in the region, couples have met here, and people have been married here, it holds a lot of history.”
Meeting with Nelson Jazz Club Big Band musical director Simon Williams and well-known Nelson performer Annabel Boyes, along with Amie-Jo, they collaborated closely to bring the event together.
Simon says the project is very close to his heart. “We used to play there at least twice a year, I’ve got quite a long history with the place that goes back to the 80’s, it’s pretty special.”
Both Sun City Soul and Nelson Jazz Club Big Band will be playing at the gig, and an all-expenses-paid night away at Awaroa Lodge is up for raffle. All funds raised will go towards future-proofing the heritage building, upgrading and repairs.
“There is a significant difference between what insurance covers and what you unearth in a rebuilding process. There has been a lot of structural work done, micro-cleaning, joists and bearers, but getting the floor down is a huge deal. We are re-using as much as possible and are looking at putting in gangway entrances to allow water to get through in the future.” Amie-Jo says the support from the community has been incredible, “From Trudi Wilson and Christina Olsen, who organised the Boathouse Benefit Concert at The Playhouse, Mel Parsons who contacted us, wanting to do a benefit concert in August at the Theatre Royal, the committee members who have all given their time and jumped on board, and our many sponsors and donors. People have been amazing. We have been donated goods to support the events and Fairfield House and the Theatre Royal have both offered us their venues free of charge. We have been donated an office to work from, architects have donated their time, business have given our staff jobs while we rebuild, everybody wants to be involved, everyone wants to be here, it is just unbelievable.” Matt Thomas, owner of You-Build Nelson, says the project is looking on track for the proposed spring opening, “It has been a fascinating project since day one, working around the aftermath of Cyclone Gita, tides and extreme weather conditions and, of course, the perfect Nelson winter days. We do a lot of Heritage and restoration work, but this has been very unique job for our team. Ensuring the original character was kept is always our primary goal. It has been a great privilege to work alongside the Boathouse Rebuild Committee on such an iconic building that means so much to our community.”
Waimea Weekly and The Boathouse Nelson are giving away two double passes to the event, simply go to our Facebook page and follow the instructions. www.facebook.com/WaimeaWeekly.
If you would like to help The Boathouse Nelson organisation out with a donation, you can go to their Givealittle page: www.givealittle.co.nz/org/the-boathouse-community-trust