Military history strong in the city
Plans to promote and display Palmerston North’s military history are continuing, despite city council staff and consultants’ words of caution.
The council’s arts, culture and heritage committee wants Te Manawa to consider including a military heritage exhibition in its plans for a rebuilt facility, after abandoning the idea of a standalone military museum.
It has dispensed with the idea of creating a military heritage precinct in the central business district, but has recommended the council adopt military history as a key heritage theme for Palmerston North.
And it has asked staff to research and identify opportunities to raise the profile of the city’s military and defence history.
The military museum options were explored in a feasibility study by consultant Bridget Wellwood.
She said a new stand-alone museum would be expensive and likely to compete with Te Manawa.
To set up an independent unit within Te Manawa would be complex and she questioned whether Te Manawa was the right venue for Palmerston North to showcase its ‘‘Defence Capital’’ concept.
But Te Manawa chief executive Andy Lowe said the organisation was open to all possibilities as it planned its future redevelopment.
‘‘The military is one of the key social and economic contributors to our region and it’s a really important story to tell.’’
Some of the central city military history locations in Palmerston North include the Showgrounds, where the 28th Maori Battalion trained for World War II, the former RSA building on the corner of George and Cuba streets, and the cenotaph in The Square.
But reporting separately, policy planner Matthew Mackay advised against basing a precinct around those features.
He said key parts of Palmerston North’s military heritage were much more widely dispersed throughout the city, from the Awapuni Racecourse, a training ground for World War I and a medical base, and Memorial Park.
He recommended a thematic approach instead, with the council exploring and investing in ways to tell the city’s military stories as it carried out works around the city.
Mayor Grant Smith said he was disappointed with the report and found talk of a military heritage theme ‘‘a bit fluffy’’.
‘‘This is really important for the city and we have to do something tangible.’’
Joe Hollander, chairman of the Palmerston North Defence Heritage Advisory Group, said he was pleased the councillors wanted to take the ideas further.