More action needed on city’s ‘cultural heart’

The Invercargill City Council needs to start showing some leadership and passion to make the museum redevelopment happen, a former city councillor says.

Neil Boniface, a deputy mayor for 12 years during his 39 years on the council, said he was concerned the council had shown no leadership in the museum redevelopment.

The museum, closed nearly a year ago for earthquake safety concerns, was the cultural heart of the city, he said.

‘‘The cultural heart of the city has been put on hold.

‘‘We need leadership and we need someone to take the reins and make something happen,’’ said Boniface, himself a former Southland museum redevelopment committee chairman around 2012.

A museum was just as important as any sporting facility, he said.

In 2018, the city council agreed to pump $9.5 million into the museum redevelopment for the next five years. ‘‘They have put money in the budget [for the museum] but money won’t make it happen,’’ Boniface said.

‘‘Passion and leadership is needed to make it happen.’’

Deputy mayor Rebecca Amundsen, who is on the Southland Museum and Art Gallery board, said it was a Southland-wide museum, not just an Invercargill museum, with several funders involved.

‘‘It’s not just the responsibility of the city council . . . it’s not as easy as one entity going off and doing what they want.’’ The museum board, through the help of strategic planner Tim Walker, was progressing the museum redevelopment and it was working towards setting up a temporary museum premises in the city, she said. That showed action was being taken, but it may not be as fast as some people wanted, Amundsen said.

‘‘The museum [redevelopment] has been on the table a long time and things are actually moving forward now, and we need to let that happen.’’

Invercargill city councillor Toni Biddle, who is the museum board chairwoman, did not respond to Boniface’s criticism.

However, she said a report outlining the options for the museum redevelopment, compiled by Walker, would be finalised in the next ‘‘few weeks’’.

Feedback from a museum board workshop with Walker on March 14 was being worked into the draft report, she said.

Once the board received the final report, it would likely publicise the redevelopment options and consider a recommendation to its funding stakeholders. Broadly speaking, Walker’s vision was about building on the things people loved about the old museum, but creating more immersive and interactive storytelling.

Aspects of the overall vision were inspired by the more than 500 Southlanders who took part in the consultation process last year, Biddle said.

People could comment on the plans before they were finalised. The council was also undertaking a formal review of the governance arrangements of the museum board.

‘‘It’s not just the responsibility of the city council . . . it’s not as easy as one entity going off and doing what they want.’’

Deputy mayor Rebecca Amundsen