The Viaduct Basin has seen industries come and go. It was the early site of the city morgue, timber milling, boat building and repairs and, more recently, fish processing and the city produce markets.

Kauri logs were once rafted into the Kauri Timber Company or brought by sailing scows along the east coast from Northland, Great Barrier Island and further afield. Kauri timber was the main construction material of the day and its legacy lies in the many kauri villas and bungalows of Auckland.

The Basin, home to the fishing fleet since 1932, now provides a mixed leisure, residential and maritime environment. It was originally developed through the intermittent reclamation of Freemans Bay to provide an all-tide berthage for ships and boats, beginning with the western reclamation. The southern boundary was reclaimed in stages over many years.

In the 1950s, the harbour board decided to promote the use of lighters for unloading ships anchored in the channel, thus reducing the demand for new wharves. A fleet of lighters was built and an unloading facility developed in what became known as the Lighter Basin. However, the shipping companies refused to use the lighters and the project soon collapsed. The Lighter Basin is now known as the Viaduct Basin.

In 1993, dredging, reclamation and the reconstruction of the Fisherman’s Wharf area was undertaken to accommodate the Whitbread Round the World race yacht fleet.

At a cost of $80 million the Viaduct Basin was converted into Viaduct Harbour (1998-1999) to provide for the America’s Cup regatta of 2000. New reclamation techniques included the use of cement to consolidate the mud-dredging fill forming the embankment. The basin was dredged, widened by 28m and new seawalls were constructed