Councillors Strong On Bigger Museum Option

A bigger and more expensive museum is the preferred option by Invercargill City councillors, despite council staff saying the extra $20 million in funding may not be available.

The $75 million option will involve demolishing the existing pyramid and rebuilding a 4150sqm museum – rather than a smaller 3550sqm building, on the same site.

Leisure and recreation group manager Steve Gibling told the Infrastructural Services meeting on Tuesday that on advice from officers, they couldn’t separate the two options from a functional point of view, but they could from a financial point of view.

“In the current economic climate some of our funders have said they don’t have that money available, so we can’t hand on heart say that we can achieve that $20 million in funding,” he said.

After a lengthy discussion around the table councillor Nigel Skelt said he was nervous about the smaller space, and cited other examples such as Splash Palace, which could’ve also been built bigger.

“I want to make sure we haven’t compromised.  I use the word caution around the history that they are models around the city that we haven’t got quite right,” he said.

Council will make a final decision about the museum rebuild in June, after the public is consulted.