Rotorua Museum, in the historic Bath House building, has been closed since 2016. Photo: Local Democracy Reporting / Laura Smith
The public will get a say on four options for the future of Rotorua's multimillion-dollar museum restoration project, but the decision comes with an asterisk about unknown costs.
In a meeting on Wednesday, Rotorua Lakes councillors voted to begin consultation on 24 May to test public support for the options: restore and reopen the museum; stage the project; postpone it; or earthquake-proof the building to a lower standard and move the museum.
The museum, in the 100-year-old Category 1 heritage Bath House building, closed in 2016 after sustaining damage in the Kaikōura earthquake and being found to be earthquake-prone.
This will be the second public consultation over the Rotorua Museum - Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa project.
Manahautu Maori - Te Arawa partnerships deputy chief executive Gina Rangi. Photo: Local Democracy Reporting / Laura Smith
The council's Manahautū Māori - Te Arawa partnerships deputy chief executive Gina Rangi said this was because there was a significant cost increase to the complex project.
The council agreed in 2018 to put $15.5 million towards the strengthening and restoration project, with $38m from external funders for a total funding envelope of $53.5m.
The project estimate was now expected to cost at least $81.4m, with the extra cost proposed to be met through $9m of council funding and $19m of external funding.
But the costs could go higher, with the complexity and uniqueness of the building potentially having unknown issues.
Asked by councillor Gregg Brown how this was assessed, and who would carry that risk, Rangi said the council would.
Brown also asked if the government could carry the risk. Rangi said that would be a political decision and, given the current economic constraints, it could be a "difficult one to negotiate".
The $81.4m included contingency and the proposed construction contract. The amount of contingency was not able to be shared in the public forum as there was a draft contract in place.
"We may have a wonderful experience where nothing goes wrong, wouldn't that be great," Rangi said.
It was initially proposed elected members and staff would have a week to shape the consultation document, but this was extended to two weeks after several councillors said this would not be long enough.
Councillor Sandra Kai-Fong raised the concern and also suggested details such as designs for the various options be provided to the community, but Rangi said there were no business cases or concept designs given the council had worked to option one - full restoration.
Aspects of other options were unknown, such as the cost of investigating a new location and building for the museum.
Mayor Tania Tapsell said the focus was on the initial cost of the museum and asked what the true cost to the community would be for the museum once it was completed, and asked for it to be in the consultation document.
Organisational enablement deputy chief executive Thomas Collé said historically it cost $5m a year to operate, funded half through rates and half through user fees. A similar model was suggested in the future.
External funding for the museum restoration has so far been secured from the Provincial Growth Fund ($17m), Rotorua Trust ($10m), Lotteries Grants Board ($6m) and Manatū Taonga Ministry Culture and Heritage ($5m).
Rangi said funders had indicated a strong desire for the project to be finished and some indicated they may be able to contribute more.
The consultation will run for a month and a decision would be made on July 5 ahead of the government pre-election period, when Crown funding decisions were halted.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
