Founded in 2003 as a collaborative art space, the Stafford Street building included six huge bedrooms, studio spaces, a large basement and a gallery space. Erin Templeton, who now lives in Australia, was part of the group who originally leased the building and founded the gallery. Lots of people put a huge amount of work into eventually securing a lease and preparing the space," Templeton explained. Tania Price, another founder, explained the building used to be the headquarters for a pharmaceuticals and fertiliser company (Kempthorne Prosser) and a strip club after that. It's also particularly interesting given that in 2016 the Dunedin City Council granted $5000 out of the heritage fund towards drainage and roof repairs - odd considering it's apparently not a heritage building.

Source: Otago Daily Times May 19, 2019 15:56 UTC