by WCHC

A lot has happened since February and we are delighted with progress towards the construction of our new museum.

The project was begun early in 2010 and many people have volunteered their time and expertise since then towards achieving our aims. Since February we have been granted $120,000 by Lotteries and $100,000 by the Otago Community Trust, adding these amounts to approximately $180,000 raised by local volunteer efforts through a range of fund raising events, firewood sales and local sponsorship. This has meant that we can now proceed to the next stage, ie construction of the new building. To this end work has begun to clear the site and reduce the ground level back to what it was originally in order to improve drainage of the site and to also assist in drying out the old museum building. A contract has been agreed and signed with the main contractor and local sub-contractors identified who have quoted for work to be undertaken. On August 24th 2017 an informal ceremony was held to mark the beginning of the work and several local identities with long time involvement with the museum were present on the day. We hope to have our new museum open for business by early next year.

2017-08-01