Conservator consulted on mining submarine
Middlemarch Museum raising funds for preservation
A CONSERVATOR from Auckland is coming on board a project in Middlemarch to try to preserve the oldest surviving submarine in New Zealand.
Middlemarch Museum secretary Nicky Gilkison said Object Lab director Rose Evans would be in Middlemarch for three days from Wednesday to determine the best way to preserve and exhibit the Platypus submarine.
The bulletshaped submarine has been outside the museum for more than 20 years.
The craft was built in Dunedin in 1873 to mine gold from Otago river beds.
When the vessel was launched the same year, the machinery inside included pumps powered by paddle wheels, ballast tanks allowing the vessel to sink and rise, and a hatch on top to let submariners in, and a hatch on the bottom to provide access to the riverbed.
The submarine illustrated the engineering prowess of Dunedin in the 19th century, she said.
Once the submarine was preserved it would be exhibited inside a structure built outside the museum, Mrs Gilkison said.
Museum researcher Jo Robertson has put a call out for any information on the ‘‘obscure and strange’’ story of the submarine.
‘‘Any stories, documents, photographs, drawings, any family stories — anything.’’
The diving craft was tested in Otago Harbour in 1874 with six submariners on board.
‘‘It would be fabulous to hear from anyone who knew of those people,’’ Miss Robertson said.
The submarine was as much a Dunedin story as it was a Middlemarch one, so everyone from the city was invited to the consultation with Ms Evans at Strath Taieri Community Hall at 3.30pm on Thursday to help further the project.
However, it was felt the submarine had to remain in Middlemarch because of its links to the gold rush, Miss Robertson said.
‘‘It’s in its element here.’’
The museum had begun raising the $60,000 needed for the project and sponsors were being sought, Mrs Gilkison said.
The museum needed to raise $20,000 to be eligible to apply for money from the Lottery Grants Board, she said.
Mrs Gilkison had floated the idea for the structure to house the boat to be designed so museum patrons would feel as if they were underwater.
Miss Robertson said the exhibition had the potential to be ‘‘spectacular’’.
‘‘If it’s housed in the right way, with little dioramas and working models, and its absolutely fascinating story.’’
shawn.mcavinue@odt.co.nz