Huntly Railway Station remains open despite suspicious fire destroying heritage building

Raahui Pookeka Huntly Railway Station is open for business as usual. Photo / Waikato District Council

Raahui Pookeka Huntly Railway Station is open for business as usual, even though a suspicious fire damaged the original 1939 heritage station building on the site three weeks ago.

The Waikato District Council (WDC) says the station is still fully operational and the Te Huia train service from Waikato to Auckland hasn’t been affected by the fire.

WDC’s project manager, James Matenga, says: “We are holding our heads high and moving on with our best foot forwards.”

While refurbishment will now take longer, the plan is still to restore the heritage railway building and reopen it as a museum.

“The relocation of the building had been planned for months and the wider restoration project has been in the works for years. The fire was a huge blow for everyone involved,” says Matenga.

“We have applied for external funding to be able to continue converting the building into a local museum. We are currently awaiting the outcome of this funding application before we outline our next steps.”

Huntly's historic railway station building caught fire. Photo / Waikato District Council

As the building is in the process of being assessed by insurance providers as well as structural engineers, WDC is waiting for further information before deciding how to proceed with the damaged section.

“A new timeline for the project will be set once we understand the extent of damage, which will be determined following the insurance process,” Matenga says.

As part of a wider restoration project, the historical building was in the process of being relocated back to the station at the end of last month when half of the building was set alight in what police have deemed a “suspicious” fire.

Huntly's historic railway building has been sitting at Lake Puketirini for a long time. Photo / Waikato District Council

The historic building was due to be home to a new museum showcasing the history of one of Aotearoa’s main mining areas and was meant to open later this year.

The district council says it is grateful for the support it has had after the fire.

“We would like to thank the fire and emergency services who responded quickly to the scene and have made it possible to salvage some of the building.

“We want to especially thank the good people at Genesis Energy . . . They have been an integral part of the project and we look forward to continuing our close relationship with them moving forward.”