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Water is seeping into the $7 million underground carpark at Auckland Museum, but the board is adamant it is minimal and part of the settling process for the two-year-old building.
In a letter to the Herald, former museum head of collections Dr Oliver Stead said the two-level carpark building had been severely damaged by water leaking into the structure at many points.
"These water leaks have damaged the concrete substructure, which has been further compromised by heavy daily shocks caused by cars and tour buses as they pass over the judder bars on the road above.
"On more than one occasion large amounts of water have penetrated beyond the carpark and into the expensive new collection store in the basement of the main museum building, 9m below the road level, placing many fine collection items at risk," he said.
Dr Stead lost his job last year in a restructuring by new museum director Vanda Vitali and has been unemployed since November.
A board spokesman yesterday said the only issue was some slight cosmetic shadowing on a small number of concrete slabs caused by half to one cup of water coming through the underground membrane during heavy storms.
The spokesman said an engineering consultant had examined the concrete superstructure and found slight movements in the impermeable membrane to be a natural part of the settling process. On one occasion during winter an incomplete link between an external and internal downpipe caused a few litres of water to pool on the level one floor. Small amounts of water had dripped through to level two, but no collections were touched or anywhere near the moisture that came through, he said.
When the Herald visited the carpark on Monday - about 24 hours after heavy rain at the weekend - there was water up to 100mm deep in a concrete drain running along the northern wall of the second level floor.
The spokesman said the carpark was built to be a "wet carpark" to hold overflow. Staff had found excess water in the channel. An obstacle was found in the drain and removed.
