Council votes to go whole hog on new museum build
Councillors voted 10-1 in favour of proceeding with everything initially planned for the museum - including the car park, Green Star accreditation quest, and plans for a 70% digital experience.
The Invercargill City Council is going the whole hog its new museum opting not to ditch some aspects of the build to try to find cost savings.
It was revealed in July that the council cannot build its new museum as per the original budget and needed to come up with at least $12.9 million more for the project to go ahead with the original brief.
The council decided to consult with the public on some potential cost saving options.
It included the prospect of ditching a planned new car park or plans to become the first museum in New Zealand to gain a Green Star accreditation.
Another possible option was to a reduce the ratio of digital and static displays as part of the digital experience.
That could have seen a cost saving of between $4 to $6 million, depending on the final ratio chosen.
However, at a meeting on Tuesday councillors voted 10-1 in favour of proceeding with everything that it and initially planned - including the car park, Green Star accreditation quest, and plans for a 70% digital experience.
Cr Ria Bond was the only councillor to vote against it.
Councillors Ian Pottinger and Alan Arnold was absent from the meeting.
Deputy Mayor Tom Campbell moved the motion saying the message he had received from the community was that they wanted the council to get on with what they had planned.
“I actually came to this meeting very much with the intention of finding a cost-saving opportunity.
“But having listened to the discussion, there was very good reasons for including those things in the first place and we spent a long time talking about Green Star, and we spent a lot of time talking about the car park, and we talked at length about the experience.
“We probably landed in the right place back then.”
“I read every submission, but I was probably most influenced by the verbal submissions when we did the stand up in [Invercargill Central. I spoke to about 40 people and the overwhelming mood was just get on and do it.
“They were probably more annoyed about being asked actually.”
It’s estimated the council would have saved $900,000 in the $83 million project if it had opted not to proceed with the Green Star accreditation.
Green Star has a list of performance measures from sustainability to energy use to waste recycling etc.
The delay of the car park build would have put the $1.5m spend required on hold.
Although various councillors pointed out it would not be a savings but would simply be delaying the car park development.
Cr Bond said she was voting against the motion on principle pointing back to July when the council was notified the build good not be carried out to the original budget that was set.
“On principle, I’ll be voting against the option, not for the reason that we don’t need the museum, not for the reason that we’ve heard from submitters, but it actually comes prior to that. It’s the reason for July being notified that we wouldn’t meet the budgeted outcome at that time.”
Lead Councillor for the project, Grant Dermody, said the museum development was a
significant project, and decisions relating to it needed to take a long-term approach.
“This is about creating an outstanding asset for our community today, and our community tomorrow. While we have heard a range of perspectives regarding the museum redevelopment, overwhelmingly the community has told us their view is to ‘do it once, do it right’,” he said.
He had appreciated hearing from those within the community during the consultation period, he said.
“We know people see the development of Te Unua Museum of Southland as critical in terms of our region’s cultural landscape. It is an essential part of preserving the stories and tāoka of our region, and celebrating who we are and where we come from. We also know that striking the right balance between building a fit-for-purpose facility and affordability is front-of-mind for our community.
“We owe it to future generations of Southlanders to ensure Te Unua Museum of Southland is built to be the best it can be.”
Council Programme Director Lee Butcher said the build team, Naylor Love, was in the process of establishing the site.
“Early civil works are in full swing and the initial phase of the build itself is on track to begin towards the end of the year,” he said.
“The team is also working through the developed design stage for the museum experience, including content, narrative, and storytelling solutions. All of the puzzle pieces are well and truly coming together, and we are looking forward to entering the next phase of the project.
“It’s a significant development for our community, and soon the progress we’ve been making will be apparent to those in the area.”
Te Unua Museum of Southland is scheduled to open to the public in late 2026.
Fantastic and correct decision. In hearing a submission about the green star rating I learned this expenditure is a win-win : the stats on the ongoing future running costs of this museum are slashed up to 66% and also the green star rating is a marketable tourist drawcard we can “ sell”. We forget that expenditure on this museum is also a investment both in this community and future generations ahead of us - but also an investment in tourism , in bringing ( and retaining overnight) $-spending tourist visitors here. We did the hero option for the stadium : and after twenty years (yes) of planning and delaying a museum upgrade, and being without it for five, it’s appropriate this legacy asset too is no scrimp.