The Sarjeant Gallery redevelopment fund has received another $1 million donation, leaving it just $3.4 million short of unlocking central government funds.
The latest donation of just over $1 million from long-standing Whanganui fund the S.M. Davis Trust follows a $1million grant earlier this month from the Whanganui Community Foundation.
The redevelopment of Whanganui's historic Sarjeant Gallery has been priced at $34 million. The Government has promised $10 million if a matching amount can be raised from the private sector. The Sarjeant Gallery Trust has until the end of June to come up with the $10 million to qualify for the money from the Regional Culture and Heritage Fund.
Gallery trust chair Nicola Williams said yesterday the two $1 million donations had come at a critical stage in the project.
She said the trust needed to raise a further $3.4 million from the private sector to qualify for the government funding which would, in turn, enable the trust to confirm other funding proposals to help get the project over the line.