Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa is to receive a $4.1 million grant from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council towards the creation of exhibitions for the strengthened and redeveloped facility.
The council announced a $1.86 billion investment in the region over the next 10 years as part of the long-term plan approved last week.
The grant will be made through the Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust.
Rotorua Museum director Lizzie Marvelly said this was fantastic news, and meant planning work for the exhibitions within the museum was full steam ahead.
"We are hugely grateful for the support of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and we're excited to be getting on with this mahi.
Rotorua Museum director Lizzie Marvelly. Photo / NZME
"We have developed a comprehensive community engagement plan and will be talking to a wide range of people throughout the rohe.
"We have held a handful of initial hui with some Ngāti Whakaue and Te Arawa entities, and an extensive iwi engagement programme will soon be rolled out around the Te Arawa region," Marvelly said.
"We will also be talking with various community groups, youth, and our general public."
During the community engagement programme, which was expected to take 12 months, the museum team would be gathering information from the community about the stories and taonga that were important to them, and themes they would like to see reflected in the redeveloped museum.
Acrylic carved waka at Rotorua Museum Photo / Supplied
From there a master exhibition plan will be developed, along with initial concepts for what the exhibitions might include. These concepts will then be brought back to the community for further discussion before proceeding into more-detailed designs.
The museum has been closed since November 2016 after the appearance of cracks in some parts of the building following the Kaikoura earthquake.
Construction, to strengthen and redevelop the category 1 Bath House building in which the museum is housed, was due to get under way next year and was expected to take two years.
The completed museum is scheduled to open in 2025.
