Click photo to enlarge The historic Dunedin Railway Station.

The Dunedin Railway Station is a spectacular reminder of the time 100 years ago when the city was the richest and most influential in New Zealand.

It is not just historic; it was ranked last year in an international travel book as one of the world’s 200 “must-see” buildings — the only one in New Zealand.

The station is not just an architectural museum either. It houses the headquarters and booking office of the Taieri Gorge Railway, which runs passenger excursion trains from the main platform.

Up the stairs (or by lift from the foyer) is the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and the Otago Art Society, which moved into the former Cleveland Living Centre space last February. It now calls its operations “The Art Station”.

The Art Station is a welcomed expansion move by the society, which had outgrown its former home in the old Dunedin North Post Office building and was looking for new premises. Founded in 1876 by William Mathew Hodgkins, father of Frances Hodgkins, as the driving force, the society now has a membership of more than 600, with about half that number being artists of various types.

In its new home it can run five galleries (the large Shona McFarlane Gallery, Hope Gallery, Art Zone Gallery, Wilkinson Adams Gallery, and the Lula Currie Gallery) as well as having a retail area for members’ artworks, its administration office, kitchen and storage rooms.

Another new tenant in the building, owned by the Dunedin City Council, is the Scotia Restaurant, café and whisky bar, in the northern half of the ground floor..