The Invercargill City Council’s Project 1225 will result in the completion of a new regional museum by December 2025.
The current one has been closed since 2018 for safety reasons.
Yesterday the first step towards the project began with a blessing to get the construction of a new storage facility at Tisbury, on the outskirts of Invercargill.
ICC staff and other community organisations gathered to celebrate the milestone with a blessing and sod-turning ceremony at the site.
Waihopai Runaka deputy chairman Joe Wakefield performed a whakawatea to mark the beginning of the work.
Mr Wakefield said the whakawatea performed was about "settling the land in preparation for clearing the pathway ... for the contractors who will come down here or will start to build the new storage facility here on this land".
Project 1225 lead Cr Nigel Skelt said he was pleased to reach that point as it had been a long journey.
"The clocking is ticking — it is day 1.
"It is an incredibly important day for the wider Southland community, really."
While he was happy to achieve some progress, he acknowledged the tight deadline for the project.
"Project 1225 is incredibly ambitious, but we believe we have the team and all enthusiasm to make sure we get this museum built for our community."
Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark shared the honour of turning the first sod to show to the community that council work and projects were a collective effort, not an "one-man show".
The hard work and drive from the new councillors along with council staff allowed them to anticipate the delivery of this important asset for the community, he said.
"We need this done — so it’s exciting [to reach this stage]."
The 1650sq m storage facility is due to be completed in December 2023 and then the museum’s construction will begin.
