What Squire Funeral Services owner Brian Morris acknowledges as "an embarrassment" in Kaikohe is being corrected.
Mr Morris is spending $1.8 million on upgrading his Kaikohe premises to a state-of-the-art funeral parlour.
The build includes a new chapel, viewing rooms and a mortuary with two tables.
"It would be fair to say the premises was an embarrassment - the premises reached its use-by date about 15 years ago. The new building is purpose-built and will, for the first time in Kaikohe, have chapel facilities."
While the capital outlay was large, the building would not be opulent - the price was high simply because that was the cost of the facilities, he said.