Museum build kicks up a gear
Councillors have pushed the go button on speeding up a new Invercargill museum build.
Invercargill’s councillors and mayor Nobby Clark unanimously voted in favour of Project 1225 yesterday which is a quest to accelerate a new museum build on the site of the closed museum building at Queens Park.
The council has agreed to push on with building a $10 million storage facility at Tisbury which Project 1225 lead Nigel Skelt expected would take 11 to 12 months.
In the meantime, the museum collection would be moved out with staff looking at other possible storage sites until Tisbury is built.
The pyramid building would then be demolished, ground testing done, before a new building is built by December 2025; 10 months quicker than had initially been set out in the council’s longterm plan.
‘‘Let’s get the damn thing built,’’ Skelt said.
The council was now on the hunt for a contractor to carry out the development.
‘‘It’s a big project, it’s probably the next biggest to the CBD build in Invercargill, so it’s a fantastic opportunity for a company to come on board.’’
Design work for the singlestorey building still needed to be completed.
‘‘All our effort and design will be into the interior of the facility. We have to make sure it is multipurpose and multifunctional. ‘‘The spaces will be very flexible, we need to have some indoor-outdoor opportunities around the cafe´ that embrace the nature and park we have got.
‘‘Obviously there will be some history in terms of our artefacts, but it will be more focused on telling a story of Southland. But it will be very innovative and interactive for the kids.
‘‘We have to be able to change things up and change with the times.’’
Skelt said they would use water and lights to enhance the
exterior of the building while ensuring it blends in with Queens Park.
‘‘Our parks and reserves team are very excited about being creative around that.’’
The other option presented to councillors yesterday was to pause the Tisbury storage facility build and continue to store the collection in the closed building while a new museum is built on an adjacent site.
Pausing the Tisbury storage facility was initially Clark’s preference.
However, the council’s project director Lee Butcher told councillors if they were to build next to the current museum, and instead use the existing building as storage, it could delay the project.
A change of land use for an alternative site would be needed which could take six to eight months. In turn it would push the project out to about April 2026.
It was decided continuing with the Tisbury storage facility was the best option in terms of time frame, as well as ensuring there was a safe place for the museum collection to be stored.
Skelt acknowledged the time frame was tight. However, he believed the biggest risk would be not taking a risk and again stalling the project.
‘‘It’s a big project, it’s probably the next biggest to the CBD build in Invercargill.’’ Nigel Skelt Invercargill city councillor, right.