Almost $4.5 million earmarked for the Clyde museum redevelopment has been chopped by the Vincent Community Board (VCB), as part of a district-wide review.

Central Otago district councillors will also decide today how the region's other museums will be supported in the future, since the introduction of districtisation.

At its meeting in Alexandra yesterday, VCB deputy chair Jayden Cromb originally put forward a notice of motion the Alexandra District Museum at Central Stories become the ‘district-wide’ museum, but then rescinded that after admitting recent discussions in the community were not supportive of it.

After discussions with Clyde Museum members, it also became clear that the redevelopment - $400,000 budgeted in Year 3 of the Long Term Plan and $4,130,300 in Year 4 - was no longer feasible - especially given the recent rate increases and general cost of living.

After the meeting Jayden told The Central App there were a lot of questions around museums at the moment, “and after talking to museum staff it was realised that there is a lot more going on in the museum space than we realised’’.

“Each one has a unique story to tell and so pulling that into one museum just isn’t right,” he said.

A report to council from group manager - community vision Dylan Rushbrook outlined the costs across the museum sector - annually receiving $220,000 in grant funding combined from council and respective community boards. 

The Alexandra Districts Museum Incorporated (ADMI) at Central Stories received $82,000 from the VCB annually but the Clyde Museum Trust did not receive operational funding. 

The VCB wanted the chance to have its say on the Alexandra and Clyde museums before it was put to council, and has also recommended the community boards ability to fund museums not be limited by a resolution of council.

Council has been reviewing the role of museums since 2020, and seeking to create a more coordinated approach to the telling of the Central Otago story through the museums’ activity. 

ADMI was previously charged with the role of coordinating Central Otago’s museums but that agreement ceased in 2020. 

In the 2021 Long Term Plan the majority of the community agreed that council should take on the role of coordinating museum functions in Central Otago.

The Central Otago Museums Trust was established and has received ongoing support from council, including the development of a Museum Strategy, through funding from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

Jayden said since districtisation came into effect it changed the way museums would be funded and the community boards were all still coming to terms with how that would work.

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