‘Milestone day’ looms in saga of Invercargill’s museum rebuild
Nigel Skelt believes Tuesday looms as a ‘‘watershed moment’’ for Invercargill which will potentially provide those in the city with an early Christmas present.
Councillors will decide at a meeting on Tuesday if they will proceed with the proposed Project 1225, which is a quest to get a new museum built at Queens Park in Invercargill by December 2025.
That timeline is 10 months quicker than what had been set out in the longterm plan. ‘‘It is D-Day for the museum to be fair. It is a big day, a milestone day,’’ Skelt said.
The museum saga dates back many years with plans revealed in 2015 for a redevelopment, although it never eventuated.
Skelt is the councillor leading Project 1225. He said there had been plenty of hard work put in, in recent weeks, to gather the required information for councillors make a decision. ‘‘The council officers have worked overtime and have done a superb job,’’ Skelt said.
Two plans – Plan A and Plan B – will be put in front of councillors to vote on if they do opt to accelerate the museum build. Plan A is for a new museum to be built on the existing pyramid site with the construction of a separate storage facility at Tisbury. Plan B would see a new museum building on a site adjacent to the existing pyramid with the pyramid building to be retained as storage in the short to medium term.
Skelt will recommend Plan A to councillors as the best option.
In the report for Tuesday’s meeting council staff have warned there are potential increased risks with speeding up the museum build.
‘‘There are some significant construction projects in plan in the lower South Island. Reduced time in the market could influence how many responses we get, deter some quality contractors from bidding, and limit the quality of the tender response,’’ the report says.
Skelt said he was ‘‘more than comfortable’’ with the risk level attached to the project. ‘‘It is a balanced risk really, we just need to manage it well and get ready for any contingencies there may be.
‘‘But as we speak at the moment, all council officers and myself are comfortable with where the project is sitting.’’
He was also hopeful Project 1225 would get the backing of his fellow elected members.
‘‘I believe the paper that is going up [on Tuesday] is very conclusive and they can make a very informed decision, which is the key.
‘‘I am comfortable and confident but anything could happen around a board table . . . But I believe the councillors will have an appetite for this.’’
If councillors vote in favour of accelerating the museum build on Tuesday, Skelt said the council would get on with the next steps, which will be dependent on if Plan A or Plan B was chosen.
Skelt said there may still be some work done on the exact size of the new museum but that would be a budget decision and would come at a later date.
The previous council voted for a 3550m2 build ahead of the 4150m2 option.
However, new mayor Nobby Clark has expressed a desire to build a larger museum. ‘‘What we need to do is get the financial figures around that,’’ Skelt said.
In the council’s 2021-2031 long-term plan it has earmarked $39.4 million for the city’s museum.
This was part of a $52.5m total museum budget which included $13.1m of third-party funding.