Councillor Skelt Backs Anderson House

Anderson House will rise again in all its glory after Invercargill City Councillor Nigel Skelt’s passionate plea to spend the full $1.2 million to get the place back open.

The Category 1 historic building at Anderson Park was gifted to the city in 1951 by the Anderson family.

It was used as a public art gallery before the council closed it in 2014 because of its poor earthquake rating.

A report by council staff was put to councillors at the Infrastructure and Services meeting today, which recommended $400,000 be approved for maintenance work to ensure the building remains watertight.

A further $800,000 was needed to both earthquake strengthen the building and carry out fire and access improvements, and council was preparing a 20-year budgeted plan for this.

Councillors Alex Crackett and Lesley Soper tried to delay the strengthening for another 8 months, on the hope and wing of a pray that council may be successful in applying for funding from the lotteries commision.

An application was going to be made to the Lotteries Environment and Heritage Fund, but Cr Skelt said $1.2 million had already been budgeted for that work in 2017, and it was time to get on with it.

When contacted after the meeting, Cr Skelt said it was about community and looking after our assets.

“It’s an iconic place to visit, with a fantastic garden and a great house.”

He said he was pleased that his passionate plea paid off, “and fortunately the councillors followed.”

“It’s about being solution driven and pro-active. We put a real stake in the ground together for the council tonight,” he said.

It’s so simple, we preserve the things we love.”

Council had also commissioned a hospitality expert to provide independent advice on the futurer use of Anderson House.

Next year marks 70 years since the Anderson family donated the house to the community.