Southland Museum's sudden closure

SOUTHLAND Museum & Art Gallery staff were ‘‘shocked and upset’’ to learn yesterday that the building will close indefinitely by the end of the week, after it was found it would not withstand a strong earthquake.

The 41 staff were delivered the news at 1pm yesterday before the decision was made public an hour later.

The decision was made by the Southland Museum & Art Gallery Trust, which owns the building, with support from the Invercargill City Council.

The situation came to a head in recent weeks after a peerreview was carried out into a 2013 seismic assessment of the building.

It was deemed as ‘‘probably earthquake prone’’ in relation to present standards.

The peerreview said the building met less than 34% of the new building requirements.

During the coming weeks, options will be considered on services which need to continue at the museum building, and how to make arrangements for staff to be able to continue those services.

Included is the tuatarium, which people can continue to view from outside the building.

However, by the end of the week the building will be closed to the general public.

Venture Southland is looking into an alternative for the iSite information centre which is based at the museum.

The council will begin a consultation process with museum staff on the impact.

Chief executive Clare Hadley said there was the possibility of redeployment within the council.

The council would investigate possible options for a new temporary home for the museum exhibits to ensure the public could still view them, Mrs Hadley said.

The council was committed to working with other funding partners to ensure the future existence of a Southland museum and art gallery.

However, it was not prepared to compromise on safety.

‘‘While we acknowledge this will be a difficult time for staff, and a period of uncertainty, we simply cannot take any chances with the safety of our employees.’’

Cr Toni Biddle, who is also museum trust chairwoman, said yesterday was by far her toughest day since joining the council at the last election.

Staff were ‘‘shocked’’ and ‘‘upset’’ by the news, she said.

‘‘The trust board is working incredibly hard on a solution, with our immediate priorities being the wellbeing of staff, tuatara, and our collection.’’