City goes for prudent option on new museum
The Invercargill City Council has given the green light for a new museum build for the city.
The council committed $39.4 million in its 2021-2031 Long-term Plan to redevelop the region’s museum and art gallery, and it agreed to review whether a new building would better meet the region’s needs.
The Southland Museum and Art Gallery’s pyramid building closed permanently in 2018 because of earthquake risk.
On June 28, the council adopted its 2022-23 Annual Plan, which had included the approval of a proposed new build for the museum.
Consultation on the Annual Plan took place in April and the community was given three options.
The first option was to strengthen and refurbish the existing Southland Museum and Art Gallery building. The second was two new builds with one being 4150m2 and the other 3550m2, and the third option was a smaller new build.
While the larger new build was the council’s initial preferred option, after receiving community feedback during consultation, councillors opted to proceed with option three, the smaller new build.
City councillor Darren Ludlow, who chairs the council’s performance, policy and partnerships committee, said option three was chosen because it was the most prudent.
While that option was reduced in size from the preferred option, it would still be larger than the current on-site and off-site storage, which would mean more usable space would be available for exhibitions and staff, he said.
‘‘Basic living costs are rising, along with costs of construction ... We are aware that people are struggling, and the decisions here reflect that.’’
As part of the chosen build, a new home for the tuatara will be purpose-built on the Queens Park grounds and an off-site separate museum and art storage facility will be built in Tisbury.
‘‘Discussions are ongoing with iwi and the Department of Conservation before final decisions are made regarding both of these taonga,’’ he said.