Revamp of 'Old Curiosity Shop' heritage building near completion

Joel Arnold (left) and Grace Hessell with dog Elton are "getting it done". Photo / Supplied

The revamp of the "Old Curiosity Shop" on Glasgow St is nearing completion.

In 2020, Grace Hessell and Joel Arnold bought the heritage building on the corner of Glasgow and Harrison streets and set about turning it into a cafe almost singlehandedly.

With both working full-time, it has meant a lot of late-night toil.

Arnold, a builder with Hardy Construction, said they had managed to recycle a lot of material from other sites he was working on.

"Instead of throwing it in the skip, I've been sanding it up and bringing it here. It takes twice as long but it's worth it, I reckon."

In two weeks he will leave Hardy to concentrate on Little Curious Bagels, the cafe the couple will open in the building, with his workmates pitching in for a working bee as a send-off.

The oldest part of the building, a small villa, was constructed in 1895, with a shopfront being added in the 1920s.

The Whanganui District Council's Heritage Fund helped them hire painters to tackle the outside of the shop.

"That was awesome because it would have taken another few months doing it by ourselves," Arnold said.

"They've done an amazing job, scraping it all back to the rimu, filling it all in and borer bombing it."

In true vintage fashion, the council's heritage adviser, Scott Flutey, first got in touch with them by slipping a note under the front door.

"We actually get a lot of notes under the door from people doing renovations, saying they've got this or that we can have," Hessell said.

"It's lovely. There are real community connections."

Members of the public came in for a chat every time they were working on the shop.

"One old lady hoons past on her scooter and has a go at us. 'Are you doing any work yet?'. It's hilarious."

There have been late nights aplenty as opening month draws near. Photo / Supplied

The project was turning out to be a bigger undertaking than they originally thought, Arnold said.

"Actually, he (former owner Peter Littlewood) did warn us when we bought it.

"We always knew getting into this would be a can of worms. That's part of the adventure though, and we're getting it done."

The open-concept commercial kitchen, which Arnold will be manning, is nearing completion and two vacancies (barista and front-of-house) are now up for grabs.

They are collaborating with SourBros bakery as well as ordering in New Zealand-made traditional New York bagels.

"Our business plan is pretty simple, really. Make some epic food and hope people buy it."

Little Curious Bagels will open in August.