Scaffolding has gone up over the former Wally Sutherland Motors building at 266 The Strand, but Whakatāne District Council are keeping mum presently about whether this means a Whakatāne creative hub may soon become a reality – until next week.

Whakatāne District Council announced in September last year that it was seeking a creative enterprise to lease the building to create an “arts, culture and creativity-based activity/business and visitor experience”.

This was as an early move in the development of the constellation creative hub, alongside Te Kōputu – Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre and and Te Whare Taonga o Taketake -Whakatāne Museum.

The hub is a council aspiration as set out in its Arts, Culture and Creativity Strategy. A feasibility study was completed last year using $45,000 of Ministry of Business and Innovation Tourism Recovery Funding.

The Beacon asked the council what is happening on the site, who the tenant is, when it was likely to open and how much it was costing but was told a media release would be distributed next week.