The Whakatane Museum and Research Centre has received a $120,000 funding boost from the Lion Foundation to help continue with the redevelopment on site.
The funding for the redevelopment is expected to cost $4.5 million, and the Whakatane District Council have contributed $1.5 million towards the project in its Long term Plan 2015-25.
Chairman of the project's governance group John Pullar says the museum is well on its way to completing their goal with the help of outside investors like Lions Foundation.
'It is fantastic that one of New Zealand's oldest and best known charitable trusts has leant their support to the plan.
'It also takes us a step closer to the completion of a facility that is fitting for the remarkable collection we have here in Whakatane.”
The redevelopment involves the retention and refurbishment of the existing museum building in Boon Street and an extension into Burgess Park.
New features include enlarged collection storage areas with control systems required to protect the museum's valuable collections, secure collection viewing areas for families and researchers, and a community research centre.
'The redeveloped building will also provide an educational space and expanded, climate-controlled storage, so this really is about preserving our heritage for future generations.”
John says the redevelopment will allow better public access to the displayed collections, which includes a New Zealand collection, scrapbooks, journals, photographic datasheets, biographical folders, Maori Land court records, museum research resources, digitised collections, microfilm readers and an online database.
Whakatane District Council community services project manager Paula Chapman says although the process is a long one, it's also provided a reminder of the quality and diversity of items in the collection.
'The collection we have here in Whakatane has been described as of ‘national importance', so it will be fantastic to have a facility that we know will be able to provide a space that will help protect our community's heritage for future generations.”
The museum redevelopment will start in August and is expected to be completed by August 2018.
7 comments
Well done
Posted on 21-07-2017 08:30 | By peecee09
Congratulations Whakatane , what a great example you are setting with your museum,whereas Tauranga which has a very much larger population than Whakatane still has no museum. Hold your heads in shame Tauranga. How pathetic.
Well said peecee09, but Tauranga trumps Whakatane,
Posted on 21-07-2017 10:20 | By R. Bell
in the amount of dinosaurs we have. Hence no museum, YET. For confirmation of this pathetic situation go to most commented column, Strong support for museum, Council. Be patient it will come. Robin Bell.
Another huge losing attraction
Posted on 21-07-2017 11:24 | By Angels
Note ratepayer paying 1.5 million plus what is the running losing cost to the ratepayers every year.Thank heavens Tauranga hasn't, fallen into this debt burden like other small centres. Is there a museum in Nz that even breaks even ?? Ratepayers are tired of fantasy projects wanted only by a few people.
ME TINKS
Posted on 21-07-2017 11:40 | By old trucker
TCC can share expenses and take all there rubbish over there, looks like its only bones for goodness sake and they are wrapping them up for storage, how much is this costing, climate controlled storage,what a waste, all these slips across roads everywhere and they are worrying about a Museum ,$4.5 million would clear a lot of slips and trees,(BUT) hangon, its not their money,my thoughts only on this,phew,Thankyou Sunlive for being No1,10-4 out.
@Angels
Posted on 22-07-2017 09:26 | By Papamoaner
Yes, there are even museums in NZ that not only break even, but make a profit. Good idea to do your homework before shooting from the hip. But I don'[t advocate our museum for profit. When we get it, and we will, as correctly pointed out by Robin Bell who does his homework better than any of us, I would like it to belong to the people
@old Neanderthal trucker
Posted on 22-07-2017 11:25 | By Papamoaner
Just old bones eh? You have illustrated exactly the kind of ignorance that holds us back. I won't get into "old bones" - not my field, but I can provide a good analogy in "old stones" If you drill a hole, say 80mm diameter deep enough, then lay the cores out carefully in order in a long trough in your drilling tent, you can progressively and accurately identify data, including the day or night temperature on consecutive days thousands or even millions of years ago. And from that learn a lot about times gone by. Then from that we can identify trends that enable us to look into the future by extrapolation of data. Fantastic! Imagine what this does for kids if they can enter an interactive museum and learn how to extract that data themselves. And that's only ONE example.
Think of our future generation
Posted on 22-07-2017 11:47 | By Papamoaner
That will likely fall on deaf ears. The museum naysayers appear not to give a tinker's cuss about our kids, obsessed only with "their rates". Miserable Scrooges in fingerless knitted gloves, anti everything that pulses, mean penny millionaires whose fate is to become the richest people in the cemetery. Cold-induced bitterness towards life outside their miserable comfort circle. Snap back to the real world - deny growth to our kids like the culture a good museum provides, and watch them descend into the zombie world of life dictated by technology. Already at restaurants, on trains or buses, or even walking down the street, we see them staring at their devices or phones, not interested in anything real around them any more. It's a bit like the olden day plagues as it starts contaminating the older generation as well.
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