Tours of the new Whakatāne Museum and Research Centre - Te Whare Taonga ō Taketake - will be available to interested community members on weekdays from Monday 12 November until Friday 23 November, ahead of the facility’s opening for research and community engagement activities.

Whakatāne District Council Community Services General Manager Mike Naude says a civic ceremony to mark the completion of the building will be conducted this week, but the facility is not yet ready to provide full public access.

"Staff are still occupied with storing the Museum collections and putting the final touches on the parts of the facility that will be available for public use, but in the meantime, we would like to offer people with an interest in heritage preservation the opportunity to take a one-hour tour of the centre,' he says. "We'll have two tours each weekday - at 10 am and 1 pm – and anyone who would like to take part should book their preferred day and time via the museum website."

For practical reasons, tour groups will be limited to a maximum of 20 people. Additional tour days will be provided, if there is sufficient demand.

As from Monday 26 November, the facility will be open for drop-in research purposes from 10 am till 2 pm, Monday to Friday. All other collection requests and visits can be can be arranged by appointment, outside of the normal public opening hours by negotiation.