The redevelopment of the Whakatāne Museum and Research Centre has received a funding boost from the Whakatāne Community Board.

The proposed redevelopment would see the existing facility in Boon Street expanded and renovated to make the Museum collections more accessible to the public, and Community Board Chair Tony Hall says members were very happy to commit their remaining funding to the project.

“The Community Board has provided sponsorship for the exhibition spaces in the past, and we were given a tour of the existing Museum building,” he says. “We were very impressed with the collection, so to be able to contribute to its preservation is very worthwhile.”

Hamish Pettengell, Team Leader at the Whakatāne Museum and Research Centre, says that the redevelopment has several funding applications under consideration, and the Community Board’s contribution is very welcome. “It’s great to see the community getting behind this project as we look to finalise the funding for the redevelopment,” he says. “We hope to have the project funding substantially in place this year, so that we can potentially start building in 2017.”