The Whakatāne Museum Research Centre in Boon Street will be closed to the public from Tuesday 21 to Friday, 24 April.

The four-day closure will allow Museum staff to return collection items that were relocated to off-site storage after water leaked into storerooms at the Museum Research Centre during the Easter 2014 storm. While offsite, the objects have been assessed, condition reported and where necessary, treated for moisture-related damage.

The internal guttering that failed in April 2014, causing rain water to flow into the ceiling cavity and then into the storeroom at the southern end of the building, has since been repaired. However, Museum and Arts Team Leader Hamish Pettengell says the long-term solution to inadequate storage conditions rests with the redevelopment of the Boon Street premises.

“The collection objects displayed at Te Kōputu are in the ideal temperature and humidity controlled environment, but the majority of the collection, housed in the Museum Research Centre, is housed in conditions that have been recognised as inadequate for many years.

“The Museum has a responsibility to ensure that the collection items which the community has so generously gifted over the years are preserved for future generations in a fit-for-purpose building,” Mr Pettengell adds.

Redevelopment of the Museum Research Centre has been included in the Whakatāne District Council Long Term Plan 2015-25.