Paint job will take until June

IAN ALLEN

Scaffold Marlborough has erected 6625 metres, or 31 tonnes, of scaffold around Rangitane House, Blenheim's Post Office building

The Blenheim breeze plays its part when working 25 metres in the air, says Scaffold Marlborough foreman Hamish Sutherland.

Nevertheless, renovations on the Blenheim post office building have been cancelled only once since work started on January 6.

Scaffold Marlborough has erected 6625 metres, or 31 tonnes, of scaffold for Robinson Construction, who are painting the 1970s government building.

The companies have been contracted by the Rangitane iwi, who paid $3 million for the Main St building owned by New Zealand Post last year as part of its Treaty settlement with the Crown.

The building was renamed Rangitane House.

"It gets windy up there," said Mr Sutherland. "But we've only had to stop one day and we could go a lot higher."

Scaffold Marlborough had enough materials to reach 35 metres, he said.

"It's pretty tough roping the gear to the top but it's just like a big Meccano set; nothing to it really," said Mr Sutherland. "You just keep going up and up."

Scaffold Marlborough owner Lyndon Robinson said Rangitane House was their tallest job in Blenheim.

However, Robinson Construction project manager Mark Watson said the job was pretty straightforward.

The job was bigger than it looked because of the scaffolding, which continues inside the building to stop the lower roofs collapsing.

"It's an odd shape. There are two separate buildings that are just two-storeys high beside the main building.

"The scaffolding comes down onto these roofs but with that much weight the roof would collapse so essentially the scaffolding carries on down to the ground on the inside. So although we are only doing the exterior painting, some internal work was needed to ensure the building was structurally sound," he said.

Only the steelwork and frameworks are being painted. The painters are working clockwise around the building and should be finished by June, he said.

- The Marlborough Express

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Paint job will take until June