Research and Archives centre construction update

The new research and archives building on the corner of Hastings and Queen St is fast taking shape with the floor due to be laid in the next couple of weeks and outside walls and roof installed soon after.

The facility will house the Hawke’s Bay museum collection, of which MTG Hawke’s Bay is the kaitiaki (guardian).

It is one of the most significant regional collections in New Zealand, comprising around 90,000 artefacts acquired over 150 years.  At any one time, about 600 items are on display at MTG Hawke’s Bay, with displays changed six to eight times over a year on average.

At the moment, items are housed in different locations, and they are being expertly sorted, packed, and labelled by the MTG Hawke’s Bay collections care, and access team.

When built the centre will comprise a ‘lighthouse’ and a ‘darkhouse’.

The lighthouse will be an education, research and workspace, while the darkhouse will provide secure, temperature and humidity-controlled storage, with a focus on the protection and preservation of the collection.

Items in the collection include: the complete archives of New Zealand’s three most significant post-war textile designers William Mason, Avis Higgs and Frank Carpay, 6000 taonga tuku iho, which have been carved, woven, plaited, hewn, lashed and flaked, and handed down through generations together with their rich stories, and a significant collection of written works by William Colenso, an important early New Zealand missionary, botanist, and Hawke’s Bay resident, recognised for his contribution to botanical exploration, scientific inquiry, and cultural exchange.

The ‘lighthouse/darkhouse’ project has been funded with the assistance of $5.79m from the New Zealand Lotteries Commission, and $9m from the Manatū Taonga-Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s Regional Culture and Heritage Fund. Hastings District Council and Napier City Council purchased the property for $3.05 million, with a 50/50 split. Of the $7.7 million construction cost, Hastings has contributed $4.565 million while Napier has contributed $3.135 million.

The development of the facility is being overseen by a Joint Working Group, comprising councillors and staff from Hastings District Council and Napier City Council, the Hawke’s Bay Museum Trust, and Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi.

27 March 2024

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