Public consultation on the final budget for Southland’s new museum has wrapped up, with 280 submissions received.
Invercargill City Council opened submissions for the Te Unua Museum of Southland Consultation: Funding the Vision last month. The community was invited to share its views on four options to address a budget shortfall in the Council’s project to build a new regional museum, set to open in late 2026.
Councillor Grant Dermody, who is the lead Councillor for the project, said the level of engagement throughout the process underscored how crucial the project was to the community.
“We know how important Te Unua Museum of Southland is to our community,” he said.
“A new museum is much more than a building that houses artefacts – it is the space that tells the story of our past, our present, and the future we aspire to, together,” he said. “It’s imperative we get this right, including the decisions we make around our financial investment in it.”
It was heartening to see a high level of engagement with the consultation process, Dermody said.
“It is vital that our community shares their perspective with us, as it guides our decision-making around the Council table, and I want to thank everybody who took the time to engage with the submission process,” he said.
Council Manager Strategy, Policy and Engagement Rhiannon Suter said the consultation outlined four options to address the budget shortfall.
One option was to move ahead with the full scope of design for the museum, which would see a $13 million increase in cost from the original budget. This option would bring the full Project 1225 budget – including Te Pātaka Taoka Southern Regional Collections Facility and Te Moutere – Tuatara Island – to approximately $87 million.
A second option was to remove the Green Star Accreditation, which would bring the cost down to $86.2 million. The third option, which was Council’s preferred option, would delay the construction of a 71-space car park and remove the Green Star Accreditation. That option would bring the total budget to approximately $84.7 million.
The final option involved reducing the ratio of digital and static experiences, which could provide an additional cost saving of $1.8 million to $3.8 million.
Of the current total Project 1225 budget of $74.1 million, $9.4 million has been spent on Te Pātaka Taoka Southern Regional Facility, $734,000 on Te Moutere – Tuatara Island, and $63.9 million is set aside for the museum.
After the month-long submission period, hearings were scheduled to be held on October 8. Twelve people had indicated they wished to speak to Council, Suter said.
Council would then deliberate on October 22.
The $74.1 million budget for the project is funded by a $57.1 million investment from Council, $10.4 million in committed external funding. An additional $6.6 million of external funding is yet to be secured. This would be underwritten by Council if it was unable to be secured.
