Otago Settlers Museum

Final plans for a sunny and attractive new foyer and entranceway at the Otago Settlers Museum are starting to take shape as the $38 million museum redevelopment project moves closer to completion.

A senior Otago Settlers Museum conservator who was sacked last year for serious misconduct has successfully taken a personal grievance against the Dunedin City Council, which has been ordered to pay him $34,446.

The cost of completing the Otago Settlers Museum upgrade has nearly halved, with Dunedin ratepayers set to benefit from loan cost savings worth about $6 million as a result, Mayor Dave Cull says.

The Otago Settlers Museum has had to ditch plans to display a large banner - heralding the museum's $35 million redevelopment - on its Cumberland St frontage, citing insurance and safety concerns.

Three wooden armchairs, elegantly crafted in the 19th century, have found their way back to their Dunedin home, after last September's major earthquake near Christchurch.

Youngsters with spray cans are not the only ones producing graffiti, recent research at the Otago Settlers Museum shows.

Otago Settlers Museum Board member Lee Vandervis, who is a critic of museum redevelopment project costs, has also taken issue with the museum's promotional spending.

Otago Settlers Museum Board member Lee Vandervis yesterday took issue with the about $8 million cost of the museum redevelopment's final stage and asked if savings could be made.

Former Otago Settlers Museum conservator Francois Leurquin is no longer at the museum and a staff member at a Cambridge University institute has been named the "successful candidate" to become the museum's new conservator.

The true colours of a historic Cobb and Co stage coach have come shining through, thanks to cleaning work being undertaken during the Otago Settlers Museum's $35 million redevelopment project.

Trainspotters made tracks for the Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin yesterday to see a historic railway engine rolling for the first time in nearly 40 years.

The Otago Settlers Association has made another contribution to the Otago Settlers Museum $38 million redevelopment project.

A popular weekly photo feature in the Otago Daily Times has led to the Otago Settlers Museum securing a slice of "motoring" history.