Construction workers demolishing the old Tauranga Hotel on The Strand expected an archaeological find - but didn't count on uncovering three historic cellars built more than 100 years ago.

Built in 1930, the hotel on the corner of Harrington Street has been torn down to make way for the multi-million dollar three storey development – ‘The Lofts' as part of a project to revitalise The Strand.

From left: Construction manager Paul Anning and development manager Peter Williams in the oldest cellar. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

The iconic hotel has long been home to popular nightclub ‘Grumpy Mole Saloon' on the bottom floor, before it closed earlier this year.

Veros Property Planners development manager Peter Williams says three cellars have been uncovered at the site - one dating back to the 1800s and measuring about 40sqm wide and about 2 metres deep.

'To be fair we probably did anticipate to find a cellar because it is an old hotel. But we didn't anticipate finding three, which we did.”

The oldest cellar is situated at the front roadside of the site while the other two in the middle and rear are dated around the early 1900s, says Peter.

Apart from an old glass beer bottle – the cellars are empty.

Peter says after the archeological process is complete the cellars will be filled in to continue with the revitalisation project.

'We'll pull it out and move on. When looking at redeveloping a city you don't leave it in the ground and do nothing. You record it, you take photos of it, you acknowledge its timing and presence in the context of Tauranga and its history. And then we get on and revitalise the CBD.

'The key thing is that the information is recorded and the images are taken and I'm sure there will be samples of the bricks as well.”

A fourth section of bricks have also been uncovered, but at this stage it is hard to tell if it is another cellar or a horse stable, says Peter.

While Peter is excited with the find, he says it is also unnerving starting a project knowing it is highly likely you will find something historically significant that can affect the project timeline.

'From an investors point of view it's always a bit nerve racking because you don't really know what you're going to find and what sort of delays that might get to your project. There's always a fine line between meeting tight timeframes and budgets in the modern day to preserving history of the past.”

Construction manager Paul Anning says the oldest cellar is similar to a British design built in two layers of slate bricks from before the 1900s.

'To be honest I've never seen it being used in New Zealand before.”

Mish Mish Heritage archaeologist Brigid Gallagher says there has been a number of Tauranga hotels built on the site since 1876 when the first hotel was built.

Brigid says after the hotel burnt down in 1881 builders saw the ground as a solid foundation to build on.

'Once you rebuild quickly that creates a good solid foundation for your next building. And that's what they've done - they've actually just covered it up with the most recent hotel. So it's been preserved underneath it's as simple as that.”

Brigid says the archaeological consent is a fairly modern process, becoming more and more visible with the integration of the Resource Management Act.

Everything in New Zealand built before 1900 is protected under the Historic Places Act.

'So we haven't really seen any development in Tauranga since the 1910s to the 1930s. So there's never been a need to actually excavate under Tauranga City.”

Historic documents, found before any demolition took place, suggested there was an old cellar underground near the area. So developers were aware they might uncover something of significance, says Brigid.

'We knew it was going to be here somewhere but how intact or how preserved it was going to be, we just didn't know. It turns out it was here all along.”

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Lower Northern manager, Fiona Low, says builders at the site will record any historical artefacts found while under construction under the consent.

'All pre-1900 archaeology is protected under the NZHPT Act, which is why if you're going to be modifying, damaging or destroying any pre 1900 archaeology you need an authority.

'Some of the earliest development in Tauranga was along The Strand area. So there was reasonable cause to suspect that here would be information there.”