News Release

23 November 2016

Above: Rotorua’s iconic museum is a Category 1 heritage building. The central portion of the building, constructed in 1903 and known as the Bath House, is the affected area. The wings on either side, which were added in 2008 and 2011 respectively, are not affected.

Rotorua Museum to remain closed pending initial engineers’ report

A decision about the ongoing operation of Rotorua Museum is likely to be made next week following a report from engineers inspecting damage caused by last week’s earthquake. In the meantime the museum will remained closed.

In the interests of public safety the iconic museum in Rotorua’s historic Government Gardens was closed to the public last Friday as a precautionary measure, following initial assessments.

Damage discovered following last week’s earthquake is limited to inside the historic section of the building which was originally opened in 1908 and includes the main entrance, café and mezzanine floor. Damage includes new cracks in walls, ceilings, floor slabs, beams and columns.

“The engineers, who were already scheduled to start a detailed seismic assessment this week, have been in the building and have started gathering documented information. We expect to receive an initial report by the end of this week,” Museum Director Stewart Brown says.

“We also expect to be in a position to make a decision about the ongoing operation of the museum by the middle of next week. In the meantime, the 45 staff, apart from essential staff, will be on paid special leave,” he says.

“We don’t know how long the museum may need to remain closed and we can’t pre-empt the outcome of that assessment, costs or revenue loss at this stage – it’s still too early to say.”

The detailed seismic assessment will help the engineers understand the level of risk and depending on the outcome, they will then develop a plan for strengthening work. The assessment itself is expected to take four months.

“The fact the museum is a heritage building complicates matters,” Mr Brown says. “Strengthening work is likely to be needed, however, we can’t say what that might be or the extent of it until we know the outcome of the detailed assessment, which will help us to understand the level of risk.

“Due to its age, construction and heritage status, this is a fairly complex building which requires special considerations in terms of protecting its heritage features.”

The investigation by engineers will involve researching existing documentation and information about the building, opening up and checking the strength of walls, investigating how the building was constructed, core sampling, scans, geotechnical work to check the ground under and around the building and knowing all that, creating a computerised model to test how the building would move in certain scenarios.

“This is not a quick process but we want to get a better understanding before making any final decisions and the museum will remain closed in the meantime,” Mr Brown says.

Staff who aren’t on paid special leave will be involved in core museum functions and moving exhibits, artworks and taonga out of the affected part of the building. Alternative venues will be found for events and educational services which the museum provides and twice daily free tours of the historic Government Gardens are being offered to visitors.

Will insurance cover this?

Rotorua Lakes Council has three types of insurance cover for the museum – for the building itself, loss of revenue and the fine arts collection.

Insurers have been notified about the process being worked through.

What about the arts collection?

The museum’s arts collection contingency plan is already being actioned. All objects in the affected parts of the museum have been removed, apart from the collection of marble sculptures. Professional advice is being sought about moving these as they are very heavy.

Is the museum in danger of collapsing?

Previous assessments have deemed the building safe to occupy. There have been cracks in the historic part of the museum for many years and these have been monitored but the building is not in danger of collapsing.

The damage sustained last week is new damage and we have decided to remove the public risk by closing while we assess the extent and nature of that damage and the level of risk it poses.

See HERE for previous information

[ENDS]

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