New future for old silo
By BLAIR ENSOR - The Marlborough Express
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One of the last relics of Marlborough's lucerne industry is undergoing a major facelift, with a twist.
The top two-thirds of the rusting 23-metre silo at Provincial Coldstores on Old Renwick Rd will be scrapped, and the bottom 7m will be turned into proposed offices for the company.
Provincial Coldstores chairman Ian Barnes said the company's resource consent obligations meant the silo either had to be removed or used by the end of 2009.
Because the 70 tonnes of steel that made up the silo still had value, the company was "in the throes" of applying for a consent to create a three-storey office building, he said.
The silo, built by the Marlborough Lucerne Meal Company in about 1972, has a capacity of about 1900 cubic metres.
Back then, processed lucerne was put in the silo before it went to market, Mr Barnes said.
The silo went out of use during the 1980s energy crisis because fuel prices skyrocketed and the factory was forced to close for financial reasons.
Mr Barnes said Provincial Coldstores then bought what was left of the site, which included the silo.
The company had never used the silo, but it had been moved twice.
At one stage, the idea of turning the large structure into a "great big wine bottle" motel with 14 units was toyed with, but the idea was not financially viable, Mr Barnes said.
