Media Release

Monday 2 July 2018

Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust presented $200,000 to Rotorua Lakes Council towards the seismic strengthening of Rotorua Museum.

The contribution was presented to the Council during last week’s (Thursday 28 June) Full Council meeting by Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust Chairman, Lyall Thurston.

He says the decision to make the donation was made by the trustees at a recent meeting as a gesture to the management and staff of Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa.

“This is an initial contribution to the seismic strengthening of the Museum. The trustees and I believe this is the first step in a challenging journey to get this much loved building back to its former glory for New Zealanders and the world to enjoy”, Mr Thurston says.

Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust was originally established in 2006 to drive fundraising efforts to complete the Bath House building (home to Rotorua Museum) to its original design.

The three phased development cost approximately $22 million and saw the north wing viewing platform reinstated in 2006 and the north wing extension including the Rotorua Trust Galleries opened in November 2008. The final and most significant phase saw a major extension to the south wing of the Bath House, the Don Stafford Wing, which opened in 2011.

A long-standing partnership between Council and the Trust offering continued support after Rotorua Museum had to be closed to the public in 18 November 2016 following a Rapid Seismic Risk Assessment (RSRA) of the building after the Kaikoura earthquake.

Council has decided on a preferred option to strengthen and repair the Museum building following extensive structural and geotechnical assessment. The option will seismically strengthen the building and reinstate the impacted heritage features so it can be re-opened.

Council gave a vote of thanks to the Trust following the presentation at the Full Council meeting, Mayor Steve Chadwick emphasising that there was emphatic community support for re-storing and re-opening the Museum.

A Detailed Seismic Assessment (DSA) of Rotorua Museum (Bath House building) revealed it was 19% of New Building Standard (NBS). The southern wing rated over 70% NBS, but seismic requirement changes since 2011 mean it requires additional bracing to bring it up to 100% NBS.

Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust includes: Chairman Lyall Thurston QSO JP, Patron Dame Cath Tizard ONZ, GCMG, GCVO, DBE, QSO, DStJ, Trustees: Her Worship the Mayor Hon Steve Chadwick, Rt Hon Paul East CNZM QC, Doug Clemens QSM, Mike Johnson, Jo-Anne La Grouw MNZM, Fred McRae, Malcolm Short ONZM, Jo Romanes, Maria Palmer and Rotorua Lakes Council Arts and Culture Manager Stewart Brown.

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