Grant assists Museum redevelopment group

An $8,000 grant from the Southland Regional Heritage Committee will allow the recently formed Museum Project Steering Group to study successful museum projects at several North Island sites, Southland Museum and Art Gallery Trust Board Chairman Darren Ludlow announced today.

Mr Ludlow said the redevelopment project for the Southland Museum and Art Gallery would benefit from the knowledge gained by visiting the other sites like Puke Ariki in New Plymouth.

“In this tight financial climate it is imperative that the redevelopment meets the needs of the Southland community, which that means careful research and learning from the experiences of others in redeveloping regional museums is important,” he said.

The Project Steering Group is chaired by Invercargill City Councillor Neil Boniface and includes representatives from Iwi, Invercargill City Council, Southland District Council and three independent appointees.

Mr Boniface, who headed the project team for redevelopment of the Civic Theatre, said the same process had been followed for the Theatre upgrade and that project had continued to be a success.

He said the Steering Group was strengthened by the wider involvement of the appointees who were making themselves available to the project at no cost.

As well as the design brief, the Steering Group would also consider the potential role of the Southland Museum and Art Gallery in the Inner City Revitalisation Project already underway in Invercargill.