Caroline's eatery to rise again

NEW BEGINNINGS: Caroline Norton stands in the partially gutted Aramoho Hotel which she now owns and will become Caroline's Boatshed Bar and Eatery. INSET: Caroline's Celtic ablaze that fateful night last September. Photo/Stuart Munro

From the devastation of a fire that gutted her restaurant and bar almost a year ago, Caroline Norton has bought the former Aramoho Hotel to create a new enterprise.

Caroline's Boatshed Bar and Eatery is the new venture and she hopes to have it open for business before the end of the year.

Fire razed Caroline's Celtic at the top end of Victoria Ave in the early hours of September 26 last year - but Ms Norton had always vowed her business would rise again.

Although the property was fully insured, there were doubts if they could rebuild on that site.

When the Aramoho Hotel came on the market Ms Norton decided to take the plunge.

Demolition had already started and the rebuild proper will start as soon as the necessary consents are given. As well as creating an "industrial" look inside using existing steel beams through the building, a major feature will be the wrap-around verandas and an emphasis on outdoors dining. Bifold doors will open on to the decks area facing the Whanganui River.

"We love doing outdoors so this is the ideal environment for us," she said.

There will be a beer garden area as well as large garden bar, which she said will be perfect for families.

"The cooking area will be the hub of the restaurant sitting in the middle of the open space being created in the existing building. We're calling it the hub," she said.

Compared to the previous Caroline's Celtic at the top end of Victoria Ave, the new premises are significantly bigger with more carpark space.

The purchase includes the camping ground behind the hotel but that will be the second stage of the development. The first stage, and Ms Norton's focus, is the restaurant and bar.

She said the location did not worry her.

"We have to make the best of this one. It's probably the busiest road in the city and it's really about what you offer your customers that counts. It's about spoiling them rotten, the mums, the dads, the kids, the families."

Ms Norton said it was about giving back to a community which had supported her business in the past.

"The market will be the same as what we targeted at the Celtic. And it doesn't matter where we are. It's the destination that matters," she said.