The community is being invited to a special event in the CBD on Tuesday 7 June, when four street plaques telling stories of Ashburton’s business past are to be unveiled.

The plaques are a collaborative history project involving the Ashburton District Council, Historic Places Mid Canterbury, the Ashburton Museum and Historical Society and people representing the community.

Galvanised steel frames, powder-coated with red paint, are already in place and the plaques will be fixed on them prior to the unveiling.

Community Services Group Manager Steve Fabish said Mayor Neil Brown would be doing the honours, and special guests and members of the community were being invited along.

“The event will get under way at 10.30am on the East Street green, opposite the clock tower and will involve an unveiling, and a tour of the panels to hear more about the stories told in each panel. We hope many people will join us.

“This work puts a final touch to our revitalised CBD and as covid prevented any official opening of the new space, the unveiling of the plaques will be the first public event there and we are really looking forward to it.”

The four plaques will be positioned on East Street across from the clock tower, and at the Burnett, Tancred and Moore Street intersections. They contain historical notes about the buildings and businesses that once happened on those streets.

“There are many people who have helped this project come to fruition and we look forward to thanking them and recognising them officially,” Mr Fabish said.

“The CBD has had quite a colourful history and we hope people will gain an appreciation for Ashburton’s history over the past 100 years or so.”

The content on the plaques is the result of work by the Heritage Mid Canterbury working group, whose members include Councillors Diane Rawlinson and Carolyn Cameron, historical society president Glenn Vallender, David Stewart, Julie Luxton of Historic Places Mid Canterbury and Council staff, including Mr Fabish, and Connor Lysaght and Danielle Campbell of the Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum and the Open Spaces team.

Locations and streets or talking points were decided on by the group, and then concept panels were developed and researched, before the final text and photographs chosen.

Members of the Ashburton Menzshed made the frames, which are already in place awaiting the panels.

To keep the interest alive in our historical past, the working group plans to develop four more signs that will be installed on the frames and exchanged every six months.