Te Unua Museum of Southland is part of Invercargill City Council’s Project 1225, which will involve the demolition and rebuild of the city and region’s museum by 2025.
Council programme director Lee Butcher said the design team delivered a concept of what the new museum could look like, and now ECI contractor Naylor Love, alongside Architectus, has taken the initial concept forward to create a detailed design.
"The updated designs reveal enhancements to the original concepts plus new design elements of this exciting new development for Southland," he said.
In a council meeting on Tuesday, councillors were presented with an update on the building design and budget.
Mr Butcher said the building design and construction details and costings were finalised in July and several challenges were putting pressure on the budget, including building cost inflation, and lingering Covid-19 effects, such as resourcing, cost of living and supply-chain issues.
"While every effort has been made to test the budget and build options, it is unlikely the current budget could have met the requirements for the new museum."
The options included possible cost increases in the range of $12.8m to $7.8m in relation to the build with a reduction in some elements, such as the Green Star building certification and the carpark, or pausing the project to review the scope.
The options also noted there was an external funding gap of $6.6m that the council would have to underwrite if further external funding could not be secured.
Project 1225 lead Cr Grant Dermody said the council had been given a strong direction from the community that the museum was top priority.
"We know the community want the best possible option for a future-proofed museum, and we are committed to delivering that, but now is the time for us to check in again and hear the community’s thoughts on these important items and their associated costs."
