Proposal for new museum in town
A council by-election candidate is proposing Invercargill’s museum is built in Wachner Pl instead of returning to the pyramid building in Queens Park.
In December, Invercargill City councillors considered a report that outlined all the options to reopen the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, and identified a preference to strengthen and refurbish the building.
Five options were laid out, starting from a $25.3 million spend to bring it up to the minimum requirement of 34 per cent of the National Building Standard, through to a completely new building which has been estimated to cost $85.5m.
However, businessman Wayne Harpur said ratepayers had been presented with only one option for the museum building at Queens Park, which was to spend $52m on strengthening and refurbishment.
Building a 6000sqm multi-storey space in the area beside and behind the Tuatara Backpackers Lodge on Dee St for a new museum would cost just $36m, he said.
His proposal was ideal because the council already owned most of lower-Esk St and it would tie in to the Invercargill Central development bordering Esk and Tay streets, Harpur said.
‘‘[The old buildings on Tay St] are going to have to be . . . probably demolished anyway, so it’s an opportunity to latch onto the existing development as well as get rid of some potential hazards that are sitting there now.’’
Spending that amount of money in another part of town seemed out of place, he said.
‘‘[Wachner Pl is] more central and a much better option for the city, [it] will give us a museum and associated improvements for the future.
‘‘People could go to the library, visit the museum, and go across the road for lunch at the new food court. It’s a better option than the status quo.’’
Harpur also proposed the land the museum currently occupied at Queens Park could be redeveloped into a purposebuilt area for events such as Shakespeare in the Park or a science space around the Tuatarium and observatory.
‘‘Too much time has been already been wasted on the pyramid at Queens Park . . . It’s time to think of the future and to get real about what we need and can afford as a city.’’
Harpur is one of nine candidates to put their name forward for a seat on the council after former deputy mayor Toni Biddle resigned in October.
The Southland Museum and Art Gallery at Queens Park was closed in April, 2018, after it was deemed an earthquake risk.
Since then, temporary museum and art gallery He Waka Tuia has opened on the corner of Kelvin and Don streets.