Consultation has started on the the future of Anderson House. The process is being funded by the Investigation, Impetus and Assessment Fund, which is supported by the Community Trust of Southland and administered by Venture Southland.
The current project has been initiated by the Invercargill City Council and feedback has already been received from the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Invercargill Public Art Gallery (formerly Anderson House Public Art Gallery), Friends of Anderson House Committee, Heritage South and other community entities. The project is being co-ordinated by Venture Southland.
The consultation process is a simple one and intentionally so. Stakeholder meetings were held late last week and a two-question survey opened today (6 October 2016). Here’s the link:
After the survey closes a business case development process will be undertaken, including research to identify the three most promising concepts for the future use of the historic home.
The concepts will then go to public consultation in early November, with feedback and additional suggestions taken into account, before the options are discussed by Council in early December. Council wanted a process which would quickly refine the options, in order to help make an informed decision on the future for the facility.
Bobbi Brown, GM Tourism, Events and Community of Venture Southland, said: “There is so much positivity and passion within the community for the home. I think it is an important part of our history and identity as a region, but it is also about a continuation of the story and legacy of the Anderson family. The Andersons were philanthropic and valued the past, but they were also forward thinking and business minded. It is a story that ties together so much of what Southland is about.”
