The old ferry boat MV Kestrel has had a $800,000 makeover and will begin its new life as a stylish waterfront bar and restaurant in January. Builders are applying the finishing touches to the Kestrel, which celebrates its 100th birthday next year. And steelworkers at Mount Maunganui are completing a massive 24m-longpontoon which will be bolted to the Kestrel to help stabilise the on-the-water restaurant. A two-level building, mostly glass, will be built on the pontoon to provide extra dining space. The spruced-up Kestrel and pontoon will be towed from a pier near the harbour bridge to The Strand waterfront within weeks. The new bar and restaurant, called Kestrel at the Landing, will be positioned beside the Edgewater Fan at the end of Spring St. It will cater for up to 200 diners. "An unbelievable effort has gone into this project," said Mike Colosimo, who with his partner John Harvey has the management contract to operate this latest attraction to downtown Tauranga. The project has been a labour of love for the owner Mark Scapens, who bought the ageing and rundown Kestrel from Fullers in Auckland nearly two years ago. He has spent $1.4 million, including $500,000 on the pontoon. A team of builders had worked on the Kestrel for nearly eight months. They replaced all the rotting parts of the original kauri promenade deck, which was waterproofed and freshly oiled. They levelled out the curved flooring and replaced it with striking Victorian ash and kwila timber. Two sets of stairs in the upper deck were covered-in to create a spacious main dining room, of 180 sq m, inside the boat. A modern kitchen with stainless steel throughout was built on the lower deck - with a cool-room and smaller prep kitchen. As customers step inside the Kestrel from the pontoon at the lower level they will enter the bar area. On the left-hand side of this are two port-holes providing a clear view of the old engine room. The builders also cut another another window on the upper deck so the diners could see the old wheel house. All the original lights have been retained. "It's been a mission," said the building manager, Ben Poff. "There was nothing straight on the boat. We had to get it all level and everything was done by eye." At Steelworks in Cherokee Place, staff have been working on the pontoon for 10 weeks. It has three 24m-long flotation cylinders, each 2m in diameter. "It's always good to do something interesting," said Rob Pratt, managing director of Steelworks. "The pontoon will float like a cork - only 50 per cent of it will be in the water. It will sit pretty flat just as it is." The pontoon will be rolled out during the weekend - but first staff have to take off the front of the building to get it onto the street.
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