No plans for Thain's building site in central Whanganui after fire

The Thain's building site on the corner of Victoria Ave and Taupo Quay remains empty and its future is unknown. Photo / Lucy Drake

It's been seven months since the heritage Thain's building in central Whanganui was ravaged by a large fire and future plans for the cleared site remain up in the air.

Building co-owner Bryce Smith said there were no concrete plans at this stage.

"At the moment it is a blank canvas," Smith said.

The fire that broke out on July 20 destroyed the Category B heritage building. Hotspots continued to flare up for days and it was deemed too dangerous to enter.

The building was demolished by mid-November after the Whanganui District Council issued a notice to demolish in the interests of public safety.

Smith and Sue Cooke, who purchased Thain's building in 2018, said they accepted it must come down.

More than $4400 was raised for previous tenants of the Thain's Building. Photo / Lucy Drake

Three of the tenants - artists Kit Lawrence, Johanna Pegler and Glen Hutchins - lost irreplaceable artworks.

Patent attorney and photographer Antonia Sims and photographer Tania Warbrick, who had studios or workspaces at 1 Victoria Ave, had to move into interim workspaces.

Feltmaker Tina Schurhammer lost her studio and the craft collective MINZ lost their retail space.

Robert Puklowski's Home Trust Mortgage office and the new Hookers Real Estate office were destroyed and Cindy Munn, who was due to open her health and wellbeing practice in the space, had to rethink her plans.

The building was completely demolished by mid-November. Photo/ Bevan Conley

Smith and Cooke set up a Givealittle page to raise funds for the tenants and their building.

They raised $4452, which has now been distributed to former tenants.

Smith said he had not been approached by anyone with ideas for the space but was open to expressions of interest.

Police inquiries into the cause of the fire are ongoing.

The Fire and Emergency investigation has concluded the cause was "undetermined". The building was too unsafe to enter after the fire so a thorough investigation could not be carried out.