Original source: New Zealand Herald

By BERNARD ORSMAN

The Government has given the Auckland Institute and Museum the best possible present for its 150th birthday - a grant of $26.5 million for its redevelopment project.

The money, spread over five years, enables the war memorial museum to begin the second stage of a major facelift at its 73-year building in the Auckland Domain.

However, the museum will have to find the rest of the $52.7 million it needs to improve exhibition space, storage and educational facilities.

Filling in the unused courtyard in the middle of the complex with a grand atrium, four storeys high and crowned with a glass perimeter drum and copper dome, will give 8900 sq m of new space.

There will be a rooftop restaurant and parking below for 209 cars.

Work is due to start in March after the Sir Edmund Hillary exhibition closes. All going well, the project could be finished in 2004.

Museum trust board chairman Bruce Anderson said talks were under way with major trust organisations to find the other $26.2 million needed for the work.

"Whether we can complete the project in one go or whether we need to do it in a number of stages will depend on the success of the fundraising campaign, but we are confident we will be able to raise substantial sums of money to get the project started."

Prime Minister Helen Clark, who is also Arts, Heritage and Culture Minister, yesterday praised the museum as an "iconic cultural institution" with collections, particularly of Maori and Pacific artefacts, second to none in the world.

She said the grant would be made under the regional museums policy, which the Government was boosting from $7.5 million to $10.3 million next year to help with the Auckland redevelopment and to prevent it crowding out other museum projects.

Helen Clark said the reason the Government had fully funded Te Papa but was only only half-financing the Auckland Museum project was that there had always been a Dominion Museum, rebuilt as Te Papa, which was Government-owned and run by a Government-appointed board.

"As for the rest of New Zealand, including Auckland, the tradition has been to have local museums supported by local authorities."

Auckland councils are levied $13 million a year to pay the operational and depreciation costs of the museum and have promised to pay a further $3 million a year once the project is completed. They are not paying any of the capital cost.

The first stage of the redevelopment was completed in 1999. The $43 million bill has already been paid.

National's arts, culture and heritage spokeswoman, Belinda Vernon, said the grant recognised the museum's role in celebrating and showcasing culture and history.

"The 50:50 funding proposal is a fair one and now it is up to Aucklanders to show their support for the project."