The museum's current archive storage facility is too small to house the entire collection. Photo: Supplied / Nelson Provincial Museum
The Nelson Provincial Museum's new archive storage facility has become a political football ahead of the local body elections.
Its current building in Isel Park leaks and is too small to house the entire collection. A $15 million central city build in Church Street was scrapped due to cost increases and funding pressures, with a new plan to build a cheaper facility in Richmond for $9.8m.
Both Nelson and Tasman's councils have committed $3m to the project, with Nelson to decide this week whether to continue that commitment, given the changes to the project.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said the new proposal was not the most cost effective option and that decisions on funding should not be made ahead of the local body elections in October.
Meanwhile, the Tasman Bays Heritage Trust which governs the museum said it had been planning for a new facility for the last decade and when it became clear the previous plan was not viable, it worked to find a cheaper option, with the need to protect its collection becoming more urgent as time passed.
Nelson Provincial Museum chief executive Lucinda Jimson said the current archive at Isel Park has had problems since it was first built and not properly completed, in the early 1970s.
"It's got multiple issues including rising damp, damp through the walls, we can't keep a constant temperature or humidity just because of great fluctuations, and that's what taonga, collection objects and artworks really need. One of our interior spaces can go between about 5 degrees in winter to about 30 degrees in summer."
She said a building report deemed it "grossly inadequate" and not fit for purpose for a facility of this nature. As a result, its $20m collection was under threat every time it rained.
"We've had leaks in our rare book room, we've had the roof fixed and they just come out somewhere else. We've had water pooling on plastic shelving over some of our collection objects.
"We have buckets that have names and they've got crosses on the floor where they're meant to be, it's just it's constant risk ... it's a terrible thing to contemplate what we might lose."
Nelson mayor Nick Smith agreed that the current facility was not up to the standard required for the museum collection, but said he had concerns about spending $3m on a new build in the current climate and the risk to council of further cost blowouts.
Nick Smith wants to see any decision on funding deferred until after the local body elections in October. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Describing the archive facility options in the same way Finance Minister Nicola Willis described the Cook Strait ferries, Smith said the Church Street build was a Maserati and the Richmond proposal a Mercedes, when all ratepayers could afford was a Mazda.
The fact council had to consult on the funding was evidence it was a "significantly different project" that would no longer contribute to city revitalisation which was one of the criteria when the funding was first committed in 2018, Smith said.
The proportion of non-council funding had also decreased, with ratepayers set to fund a greater proportion of the build, he said, and he also had concerns about the project proceeding before the remaining funds had been raised, and the trust taking out a $600,000 loan, that ratepayers would have to pay interest on.
Smith thought the Isel Park building could be refurbished for a fraction of the cost of a new build and he wanted to see any decision on funding deferred until after the local body elections in October.
Nelson City councillor and mayoral candidate Aaron Stallard said he was concerned that move felt like "very late stage backtracking" on a project that had been 10 years in the making.
He said there was always a need to consider costs to ensure the best value for money, but that should apply to every project the council considered.
"There are plenty of other similar projects we have on the go, some very similar, and they're being well supported by the mayor and council overall, and there's no sort of questioning the cost there, so this is an anomaly.
"I don't think it's good decision-making just to arbitrarily pick out projects in this way."
The current proposal was cheaper than the previous, the cost to ratepayers remained the same and the council needed to get on and protect its cultural heritage, Stallard said.
Meanwhile in Tasman, the council had reaffirmed its $3m commitment to the project.
Mayor Tim King said the Isel Park facility was old, in need of significant amount of work, and no longer fit for purpose.
Over the last decade, the council had spent $1.2m leasing extra storage space in Stoke for the items that could not fit into the current archive.
"This is a very valuable collection, not just in terms of its monetary value but there are so many amazing parts of our heritage that are protected and looked after and curated by the museum that having them in a proper facility that is built to look after them for the longer term, is absolutely essential."
The proposal for a new building in Richmond was a pragmatic solution to the challenges the museum had faced over the storage, King said.
"I just hope we get a clear decision so that the museum can move forward because they've kind of been stuck in this no man's land of trying to get this facility up and running."
Funding for the $9.8 million Archives, Research and Collection facility
Nelson Bays Heritage Trust chair Venus Guy said refurbishing Isel Park was not an option as the Tasman District Council had made it clear it did support any more money being spent on it.
Alongside the $6m from the councils, the trust had a further $2.6m committed to the project made up of cash reserves, loans, grants and the proposed sale of the Church Street site, bringing the total to $8.6m.
It planned to cover the remaining $1.12m for furniture, fittings, shelving and the collection relocation by community fund-raising, sponsorship and grants.
It had allocated $870,000 for shelving, a cost that could be deferred, and it was considering the option of allowing people to buy or sponsor a shelf.
Guy said the trust had not been able to fund-raise while the project was on hold and it had sought the $600,000 loan, as a backup, if it did not reach its fund-raising target.
"Being responsible citizens, being responsible trustees and kaitiaki, it is not just our responsibility to look after the heritage and collection we have, it is the responsibility of the elected members of both councils, we need both shareholders to stand with us and make the right decision now.
"We can't wait for another weather event and then regret it."
The Nelson City Council will vote on whether to carry on and commit $3m to the archive storage facility, on Thursday.
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