The ILT announced yesterday it has increased its funding for the Te Unua Museum of Southland by $500,000, bringing its total commitment to $1.5 million.
President Paddy O’Brien said the organisation shared the community’s enthusiasm for this project, which would be a tremendous asset to Invercargill.
The project has already faced financial challenges, with councillors approving an additional $13m last October.
Invercargill has been without a permanent museum since April 2018 when the previous one closed for safety reasons.
At the beginning of the month, a report to Council said the opening of the new museum could be delayed to 2027. It highlighted challenges with mana whenua engagement and the collections work programmes as key areas causing delay.
"There is two parts to it — the build is not delayed so the physical build will be done by December this year.
"The other area is fit-out, so that's the experience once you get inside that and it’s been driven by a number of players ... But part of that is we need to engage with local iwi about how we tell part of their story as part of the overall storytelling and there have been some delays there, but I understand that's now progressing well."
He said councillors had a recent presentation on the interior design of the facility and he believed the community would be impressed with what it was going to look like.
"I'm hoping that within the next month or two there'll be a release of what it looks like to be inside the museum, but what I can say is it is absolutely stunning.
"It'll be very futuristic in its approach and it won't be static."
The mayor also welcomed the ILT boost and said council would keep engaging with other venues for funding which would include sponsorship as he acknowledged the project "came to quite a high cost".
