Lego clicks into place at library
The future of a Lego start-up is now secure after finding a permanent home at Christchurch’s new $92 million central library.
The Imagination Station faced possible closure two years ago after funding ran out, when a last-ditch grant was turned down. The Christchurch City Council redirected $74,550 from its Mayor’s Welfare Fund to keep the station going, and since then the facility has survived on grants from funding bodies, including the Rata and Lion foundations, annual grants from the city council and donations.
The Imagination Station launched in Cathedral Junction in January 2015 and allows children and adults to play in vast Lego and Duplo pits for free, and offers workshops in Lego robotics and stop-motion animation.
It would vacate on October 11 to move into Tu¯ ranga, the central library on the corner of Gloucester and Colombo Sts, which was due to open on Friday, October 12.
Council libraries and information head Carolyn Robertson said: ‘‘Tu¯ ranga will be a place for people to let their imaginations run wild and realise new possibilities through creativity, technology and hands-on learning.’’
The council was charging the Imagination Station $1 a year to occupy a 31.6m2 space on level one of the library.