39 Dunedin Television Published on Sep 17, 2015
Historic prison restoration gets kickstart
● Resource consent granted for conservation and repair
● Funding from Otago Community Trust
● New visitor centre
● Prison tours
● Restaurant for courtyard
### dunedintv.co.nz Thu, 17 Sep 2015
Historic prison restoration gets kickstart
A $90,000 grant is kickstarting the project to restore Dunedin’s historic prison to its former glory. The money will enable the Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust to start exterior repairs. And that means members are finally able to turn their vision into reality.
Ch39 Link
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[click to enlarge]
DCC Webmap – 2 Castle Street, former Dunedin Prison [Jan/Feb 2013]
█ Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust
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█ For more, enter the term *heritage* in the search box at right.
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
What if? Dunedin... 
### ODT Online Thu, 12 Nov 2015
Way cleared for prison restoration
By Craig Borley
Consents have been granted, funding looks likely, and Dunedin’s historic prison could be just months away from beginning its long-planned transformation into a tourism drawcard. Plans for the prison include a courtyard restaurant under a glass roof, an interactive cell-block tour including props and actors, and commercial tenants – which could include accommodation providers – in the High St administration block.
Read more
Wed, 6 Jul 2016
ODT: Prison restoration to begin
More than half a million dollars worth of major restoration work on Dunedin’s historic prison is due to begin soon. The Otago Prison Trust yesterday announced an expected September 1 date for work on the 120-year-old building. The public will see scaffolding rise on the Castle St facade after a year-long funding drive got close enough to a $550,000 target for work to start.
Saturday, 13 August 2016
A bar behind old prison bars?
A secret stash of beer and spirits bottles discovered suspended behind the walls of the old Dunedin Prison could have been the work of either police or the criminals they locked up. […] The bottles, along with cans of the Watties brand Leopard Lager — which had to be opened with a can opener — have been discovered at the former prison suspended by string inside the wall cavities that can be accessed from the attic.
Otago Daily Times Published on Aug 12, 2016
Secret stash discovered in the walls of the old Dunedin Prison
Wed, 24 Aug 2016
ODT: Restoration begins on historic prison
Scaffolding is rising outside the former Dunedin prison as stonemasons at a South Dunedin business prepare the way for the building to return to its original form. […] The 120-year-old Victorian-style courtyard facility designed by John Campbell, who, six years later, was to design the neighbouring courthouse building, was decommissioned in 2007. The Dunedin Prison Trust, which took on the building, has raised about $500,000 to start the first stage of its development programme to return the building to its original appearance.
Fri, 2 Sep 2016
ODT: Captive audience for prison project
[photo] Inspecting the former Dunedin prison courtyard yesterday are (from left) Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust chairman Owen Graham, board members Barry Clarke and Lindsay Hall and Historic Dunedin Prison Restoration Project manager Guy Williams. About 30 people were locked in the prison last night to celebrate the launch of the more than $500,000 former prison repair and restoration project and to acknowledge the project funders, supporters and trade professionals working on the 120-year-old Victorian-style facility.
### dunedintv.co.nz Wed, 7 Sep 2016
Restoration of Dunedin Prison
A half-million dollar restoration of Dunedin Prison is under way, with contractors working on the roof and facade. Scaffolding has gone up on the category one historic building in central Dunedin over the last few weeks. Work began in earnest on Monday after a Ngai Tahu blessing. The Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust expects the project to be completed by Christmas, weather permitting. Public tours of the facility are being deferred until the new year. The trust, which owns the prison, raised $550,000 for the restoration. It includes the return of original architectural details lost over the decades.
Ch39 Link
Channel 39 Published on Sep 7, 2016
Restoration of Dunedin Prison
NZ has no State religion, yet it seems like nothing can take place without religion being thrust upon us: “Work began in earnest on Monday after a Ngai Tahu blessing.”
I’ve no objection to believers praying and blessing and dancing widdershins stark naked in the moonlight to their hearts’ content as long as they do it in their own time, on their own dollar, and don’t cause inconvenience to everyone else with other or no religious beliefs.
Objections to the naked Wiccans should be met with the question “Did they stop you getting on with your own business?” If the answer is No but I was offended, the aggrieved party needs to be given something to take their mind off it, such as a doggy-doo placed in their footwear.
The building was bought off Ngai Tahu (see Crown Disposal process) for something resembling a peppercorn.
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Thu, 7 Jun 2012
Trust bought prison for $20,000
The property, which has a capital value of $1.77 million, was sold to the Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust this week, after Ngai Tahu deferred its first right of refusal to buy the surplus Crown property. While the trust and the iwi declined to release the sale price, Land Information New Zealand (Linz) Crown Property Management acting manager John Hook confirmed a sale price of $20,000, plus GST, if any. He said the disposal of any land owned by the Crown needed to meet statutory and government policy requirements.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/trust-bought-prison-20000
Sat, 17 Sep 2016
ODT: Old prison roof being restored
Work to restore the roof of the former Dunedin prison to its former glory has begun, project manager Guy Williams says. Mr Williams said contractors had spent the past two weeks stripping slate from the building’s roof, salvaging any in good condition. The Dunedin Prison Trust had acquired slate from Christchurch earthquake projects over the past 18 months, and would use it to replace damaged slate on the prison roof.
Dunedin Prison
Stonemason: Marcus Wainwright
Tue, 1 Nov 2016
ODT: Fancy bits put back on prison
Historic decorative elements are again gracing the former Dunedin prison as work continues on bringing its exterior back to its original state. Two Oamaru stone finials, decorative columns topped by a stone ball, were yesterday being re-installed on the front of the building. […] Architectural conservator Guy Williams said he found the base of the finials behind panelling in the attic of the building, allowing him to re-create the rest based on a photograph from its heyday. Cont/
Sun, 25 Dec 2016
ODT: Prison tours on hold until after restoration
At the former Dunedin Prison, where warders once paced, the corridors have more recently been taken over by visitors led by tour guides telling stories of the historic building’s grim past. The tours halted temporarily when restoration work on the 120-year-old prison building began in September.
The restoration is due to be completed in February, when the Dunedin Prison Trust, which owns the building, will resume guided tours. Cont/
★ Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer Dunedin Prison tour guide is invited to contact Peter Caswell by email at caswellp49 @gmail.com.
Sat, 11 Feb 2017
ODT: Prison progress [photos]
Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust chairman Owen Graham said restoration of the prison’s administration block would be finished by the end of March, when efforts would turn to landscaping the Castle St front to attract visitors. Yesterday photographer ChristineO’Connor went to look at the block’s $600,000 revamp.