Whanganui’s Glassworks facility could relocate in 2025

The lease for the building is set to run out in 2025. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui’s New Zealand Glassworks facility has reached its capacity and a new location may be sought.

The lease for the building on Rutland Street is set to expire in September 2025.

According to a business case from Pete Gray, Whanganui District Council manager of libraries and community, the building presented numerous issues and obstacles which made it less than ideal for use.

“Key concerns include limited airflow and ventilation, discomforting temperatures in public and hiring areas, and prohibitive conditions for spaces available for hire, exhibitions, and retail.

“Accessibility and goods delivery are severely restricted, with only one entrance and exit door, and access to working areas solely via stairs.”

The facility was situated within a flood-risk zone and there was heightened vulnerability due to the workshop and furnace being located below ground level.

There was no disabled access to the lowest level as the building wasn’t large enough to accommodate a lift.

New equipment, fit-out, relocation and re-installation of existing equipment was estimated to cost the council $500,000 in debt funding, the business case said.

The council’s charitable trust purchased the facility from glass artists Katie Brown and Lyndsay Patterson in 2016.

Scoping, pre-planning and identifying a new location would need to be undertaken by council staff in year one of the council’s long-term plan, with relocation taking place the following year.

The Glassworks attracted 36,929 visitors in the 2022/2023 financial year and secured $48,000 in funding for its 10-month internship programme in 2024.

Vicki Fanning was the facility’s last artist in residence and spent last July in Whanganui.

The business case said moving to a larger site with ground-level access throughout would significantly improve the facility’s offering to artists and visitors, increase its ability to generate revenue to offset costs and support Whanganui’s standing as a Unesco City of Design.

“Both the review of New Zealand Glassworks (Thomas Consulting, March 2020) and the Whanganui art glass plan (Whanganui & Partners, September 2022) have identified the imperative to relocate and expand operations.

“[The Glassworks] faces limitations in expanding the facility, such as by adding a second furnace or additional annealers and work areas that would provide the opportunity to increase income from hiring, to display more work both for exhibition and for sale and to enable glass artists to grow their businesses.”

Gray’s business case will be considered for the council’s plan 2024-2034, which will come into effect at the end of June.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.