KEY POINTS:
Torpedo Bay, on the North Shore, will become the home of the Royal New
Zealand Navy Museum in March 2010, using buildings which were part of
Auckland's World War II defences.
The $2.5 million project tucked under North Head in Devonport could draw
100,000 visitors a year - 10 times the number who now view the museum's
treasures at its temporary quarters next to the Devonport Naval Base,
where it has been for 25 years.
Its chronological ship-based displays span the 1840s to the postwar 1950s, though a lack of space has kept 60 per cent of the collections in storage.
The chance to tell the stories of the Navy to a wider audience and in a
modern way is relished by the project manager of exhibitions for the
redevelopment, Rose Evans, who promises a stimulating experience of personal stories from veterans and families.
"These stories will engage the visitor and reinforce the Navy's central
place in the formation of New Zealand's identity and nation-building."
Next April, Rose Evans will get the chance to test the concept design and storyline at museums in Britain and Europe, on a Winston Churchill
Fellowship.
She is particularly interested in how the Imperial War Museum in
London and Manchester uses big-picture 360 audiovisual displays to
reach audiences of various ages and cultures.
The former Te Papa Museum of New Zealand staff member says Torpedo Bay
is a "brilliant" site because of its heritage value and its grandstand position on the waterfront.
The site has been continuously occupied by the military since 1880 and
is the most substantial and intact 19th century base for sea mine operations to survive in New Zealand.
Museum director Commander David Wright said that over 20 years the
museum's trust raised $1.5 million of the cost of restoring the old
shipwright's shop and the big connecting shed.
"We will do as much as we can in thecurrent budget and over time will raise money for improvements."
He said the intention was to keep admission free.
As a tourist drawcard, the museum is a ferry ride and seaside stroll away from downtown Auckland, and visitors can also go on to see the tunnels and fortifications at North Head.
Torpedo Bay is also where the Tainui canoe landed about 1350 and
French explorer Dumont D'Urville landed in 1827.
During the Russian invasion scare of the 1880s, the bay was a base for fast steam torpedo boats which carried an explosive charge on the end of a spar.
The Navy Museum on Spring St, next to the naval base is open 10am-4.30pm daily.
