Nelson Provincial Museum has had to resort to GiveALittle to fund the final amount required for a new Archives, Research and Collections (ARC) facility after the Regional Culture and Heritage Fund (RCHF) was shut down in June with no warning.

Half of the estimated $14m funding has been committed by the Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council and grants with The Tasman Bays Heritage Trust preparing to apply for $5m from the fund.

While the project is still a priority for the trust, they will now have to throw good money after bad, and look at fixing or replacing the research facility roof, which leaks after almost every rainfall, said trust acting chair Emma Thompson.

In April, heavy rains damaged collection items when a new leak burst through the ceiling and ran down a wall onto a table containing two boxes of historic papers.

Chief executive Lucinda Jimson told Checkpoint that she slept "very, very badly" whenever it rained due to worrying about the museum collection.

"We have a roof that is pretty old but it's also riddled with asbestos so it's hard to fix."

Nelson MP Rachel Boyack told Stuff that the closure of the fund, which had been in place since 2016, was another example of a Government cut that was going to hurt the regions.

Boyack, who is Labour’s arts, culture and heritage spokesperson, said regional museums that also held taonga had a strong case for receiving infrastructure funding.

“It’s not only Te Papa that houses significant items of historical value,” she said.

The museum also has one of only two existing kākāpō feather cloaks in the world - the other is in Scotland.

Read RNZ article here (22 August 2024)

Read Stuff article here (21 August 2024)

Image: Braden Fastier / Nelson Mail