The move back into Whanganui Regional Museum's Queens Park building is well under way and its director hopes the revamp will "astonish" when it reopens to the public in November.
The Watt St building has been closed since September 2016 for seismic strengthening and interior renovations.
Museum director Frank Stark told Whanganui District Council's property and community services committee that strengthening work had been completed and "we're a considerable way through the installing of one of the major parts of the building now".
About 1400sq m of new exhibitions will be installed, along with an upgrade of the collection storage and handling facilities.
"We're looking at expanding the frequency of change of the museum attractions, particularly focusing on the taonga Maori collection," Stark said.