Bittersweet day for hotel owner

Helen Clark and Barry Colman at the Careys Bay hotel restaurant named in honour of his late wife, Cushla. Picture / Craig Baxter

Tributes flowed and fireworks soared yesterday to mark the restoration of the Careys Bay Historic Hotel by Auckland millionaire Barry Colman and his late wife, Cushla Martini.

Prime Minister Helen Clark, who is also Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, said the pair had made a fabulous job of the hotel, which is near Port Chalmers.

"It is important to salute the efforts of people like Barry and Cushla who went the extra mile to keep a building like this both going as a commercial operation and a local pub and to see it so wonderfully refurbished," she said.

She remembered Mr Colman saying he had bought a hotel, and that it was a hotel with a difference.

"I always had it in mind to come and see what Barry and Cushla had been doing with this hotel."

The Prime Minister paid tribute to Ms Martini's commitment to colonial history, not just in the example of the Careys Bay pub, but in restoring several other Careys Bay and Dunedin properties as well.

Ms Martini died of cancer last year, aged 55. A plaque was unveiled yesterday on the hotel facade, honouring her work, and the restaurant is named in her memory.

Helen Clark said she and Ms Martini both had families who had previously owned hotels, in Cromwell and the West Coast respectively.

"We probably all have a publican in the family if you go back far enough."

A wider commitment to heritage and the arts was a further theme of the occasion, with the Prime Minister noting the collection of artworks at the hotel, local artist Ralph Hotere's part in them, and Mr Colman's patronage of the arts, particularly through his publication the National Business Review.

Former TVNZ chief executive Ian Fraser, standing in as master of ceremonies, recalled his extensive experience of the establishment as a young man in the 1960s.

"I never thought I would ever be doing anything formal at the Careys Bay pub," he said, noting that it was once "little more than a licensed urinal".

Representing the Dunedin City Council, councillor Paul Hudson said the hotel had long cried out for some attention, so it was a piece of great good fortune that the couple had spotted the building during a trip south.

The occasion, which attracted a capacity crowd of invited guests, came complete with freshly shucked oysters, a set by noted singer Helen Medlyn and a fireworks display over the bay.

Mr Colman was clearly touched by the proceedings. Careys Bay had held a special place in his wife's heart, he said.

The bluestone hotel was built in 1876, designed by noted architect David Ross. The restoration cost $1 million.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES