Blake memorial could cost $1m a year

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The glass-encased yachting tribute to Sir Peter Blake will cost between $500,000 and $1 million a year but neither Te Papa nor the Auckland City Council wants to foot the bill, official papers show.

Te Papa and the National Maritime Museum, where the $10 million tribute will be housed, have agreed to run and maintain the tribute but are still searching for a funding formula.

Papers released by Te Papa and the council under the Official Information Act reveal council concerns about running costs, which ratepayers may become liable for in the future.

In February, Te Papa also raised the issue of the financial stability of the "small-scale" maritime museum, and at a board meeting, strategic planning manager Pat Stuart advised that any agreement should "isolate Te Papa from all reasonable financial risks".

Visitors to the interactive exhibition of Sir Peter's life are expected to earn the maritime museum an extra $60,000 to $120,000 a year - well short of the $500,000 to $1 million in depreciation costs and $70,000 to $90,000 running costs.

Concerns about these bills led to a "cooling" by council officers towards the exhibition in April, although the councillor in charge of the project, Scott Milne, remained a strong supporter and expressed his confidence in gaining support.

The papers show that Te Papa and the maritime museum are still investigating several options for managing the tribute, including a charitable trust owning the glass building housing the America's Cup-winning boat Black Magic and the rest of the Blake exhibition, or it becoming the asset of Te Papa.

A memorandum of understanding between Te Papa and the museum is another option.

Te Papa has spent $50,000 on the project so far, including commissioning the design of the glass building from leading Auckland architect Pete Bossley. It has budgeted $400,000 this financial year to start developing the "Blue Water, Black Magic" exhibition, covering Sir Peter's early days sailing P-class dinghies to his round-the-world yachting and America's Cup achievements, and on to his environmental work.

Te Papa became involved in the project after being gifted Black Magic, NZL32, in 2001. The yacht was originally to be displayed within Te Papa's Wellington precinct or at the nearby Chaffers harbourside development, but Sir Peter's murder led Team New Zealand chief executive Ross Blackman to suggest that it form part of a memorial in Auckland.

This fulfilled a wish by Te Papa to become involved in exhibitions outside the capital, although Wellington Deputy Mayor Alick Shaw was "very negative" about the loss of a visitor attraction to Auckland.

Te Papa's move north has upset Auckland Museum director Rodney Wilson. In a May 19 letter, he criticised Te Papa chief executive Seddon Bennington for seeking corporate money in the "midst" of Auckland Museum's own fundraising for a $52 million redevelopment.

The official papers do not include any correspondence with the Blake family. A Te Papa spokeswoman said most dealings with the family were through Team New Zealand. There was no record of the one face-to-face meeting with family members.