Inside a large Mount Maunganui warehouse about 35,000 artifacts that help tell Tauranga's history are stored out of sight and, for many people, out of mind.
The secret location is a pātaka of sorts, a storehouse for Tauranga's heritage items that a city would typically showcase in a museum. Except this
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Sneak peek of Tauranga heritage collection prompts new museum hope
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
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Maori cultural heritage manager Dean Flavell with one of Tauranga's oldest treasures, a traditional bailer depicted like a bird. Photo / Andrew Warner
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The display is impressive. It's also something very few people are able to see with their own eyes.
The newly discovered moa bones, found by a farmer near Katikati, are one of about 35,000 items kept in storage in a Mount Maunganui warehouse. The shed is not a public facility. Its location is a secret to protect what it contains, and many are unaware of the varied and sheer number of objects inside.
Behind a nondescript office and filing room sit varied collections in different parts of the industrial building. These include a Māori and Pasifika collection, a collection from The Elms which contains Archdeacon Brown's diary notes, and out the back a large space filled with all sorts.
A taxidermied 5m-long blue marlin, an Armstrong gun used in the Battle of Pukehinahina, and even a whimsical tug boat letterbox that once belonged to the Omokoroa Boat Club sit dormant, boxed up or wrapped in plastic. Yet each item is its own thread in the fabric that makes up the story of Tauranga.
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The artifacts may not be publically available to see yet but many can be viewed online via one of two platforms: The Heritage Collection, where each item is in the process of being photographed and digitised, and Hands On Tauranga - an educational tool aligned with school curriculums.
In the 2021-31 Long-term Plan, city commissioners approved an extra $100,000 for the Heritage Collection, bringing the total spend on storage, staff, and associated costs to $750,000. It has also meant the creation of a new role that will focus on Hands On Tauranga.
For Flavell, the extra funding is reflective of a societal shift.
"There are those who have an interest in heritage and culture in the city and kind of know [about us] but a lot of people don't know. A lot of people arrive in town and ask 'where is the museum?' - we don't actually have a museum - that's a large number of people in the Bay," he says.
"All of the old hands who have been here a long time, they know the history."
Since the Tauranga Historic Village closed in 1998 there has been countless back and forth over varied museum pipe dreams.
In 2005, plans were unveiled for a museum cantilevered across the harbour for $18 million. The price tag grew over two years, and most city councillors who backed the $21m to $24m project did not survive the 2007 elections.
The architect, Jasmax, which designed Te Papa, was told to stop work.
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In 2011, the council voted to spend $100,000 securing resource consent for a $20m museum on Cliff Rd. It later voted to spend $800,000 a year on establishing and running an art gallery. At the time, a 100-page study said the best way to deliver a publicly funded museum and art gallery was to build the two beside each other.
The art gallery survived. The museum did not.
Then in December 2017, the council approved plans for a $50m museum on Cliff Rd, with ratepayer contributions capped at $20.65m and the rest to come from external funders. But in May 2018, elected officials canned the plans, prompting a chorus of "shame, shame" from the public gallery.
A survey that year found a 60/40 split of those against plans for a museum compared with those for it. Most respondents cited cost and financial commitment as their biggest concerns.
Last year, Government-appointed commissioners replaced the existing elected council and were given the powers to act in its place. In December 2021, the commission announced plans for a $300m+ civic precinct for the CBD that would include a museum or heritage centre. Work is due to begin in mid-2022.
At the time, commission chairwoman Anne Tolley spoke of the "decay" of the CBD and the unelected commission had the "unique opportunity" to create transformational change for the city.
"We take it very seriously and think this is a way we can give back to the community."
Flavell is encouraged.
"To be honest, culture and heritage hasn't been high on anyone's agenda for a while. But I think that's beginning to change. The community seems interested in that; to expose our stories," he says.
"I suppose a lot of the politics that held the city in check has been relieved a bit."
Politics aside, Flavell carries on looking after the collection. He is aided by cultural heritage coordinator Fiona Kean and seven volunteers who help with the meticulous task of cataloguing new items and updating or researching old files. Some also sew dust covers for heritage clothes and prepare the delicate boxes some items are kept in.
In the Māori and Pasifika room, rows of ancient stone adzes sit tidily inside stacks of bread trays.
"When you're on a limited budget, you use what you can," Flavell says.
In the corner, no bread tray in sight, Flavell singles out a large flat peace stone that was once planted under a titoki tree at Otumoetai Pa.
The stone was used as the representation of the peace agreement between warring Māori tribes Ngāi Te Rangi and Te Arawa in 1845. When the land was eventually bought by the council in 2004 to become a historic reserve, Flavell was asked to retrieve the taonga and keep it safe.
A few metres away, not far from where the restored prow and stern of the original Awanui waka stand, Flavell pulls out a long, thin box and lifts the lid.
Inside are remnants of Māori carving panels from an old church that once stood near Kulim Park. Unusual dabs of red, blue, and yellow paint adorn the wooden carvings and a Pompalliers' Cross etched into the timber can be made out, representing the unique blend of culture and religion.
"These are the original altarpieces in that church," Flavell says.
Out the back, more items sit in massive aisles under sheets of plastic or in large wooden boxes standing several metres high.
"A lot of the stuff from here comes from the Tauranga Historic Village," Flavell says.
Others such as a 1948 Austin known as "Huddy's Van" were bequeathed and others such as the quirky tug boat letterbox were bought to become part of the collection.
"It came in on an auction in Hastings. This lady rang and said she had something from our area, 'do you want to buy it?'. I bid $10. I won," Flavell says.
On the other side of the shed, Flavell lifts a plastic sheet to reveal a military Armstrong gun atop a wagon.
"This was used in Pukehinahina. This would've been standing about where the hospital is today [and fired to] where the church at Gate Pa is. They shot a cartridge about this long," Flavell says, indicating about 7 inches.
But it is another item that holds Flavell's heart as his favourite object of all - a Māori hand-carved bailer carbon dated as being 700 years old. The tatā is almost the oldest item in the entire collection and was found in the Tauriko area. The original swamplands are thought to have helped preserve the wood.
A Totara stump found buried in Tauranga Harbour during the Matapihi pipeline project was carbon dated as being 50,000 years old.
Flavell dons white gloves and lifts the bailer from its box, pointing out the craftsmanship in the fine grooves in its lip and the shape of a small head at the tip of the handle. The bailer is believed to be of Māori origin but the influence of Pasifika design because of its age is evident and special, he says.
Such historic finds and the stories they tell are not well known in Tauranga, but Flavell hopes that will change.
He is not alone in this desire.
Last year, Taonga Tū Heritage Bay of Plenty began a survey asking people whether they wanted a museum and what they would like to see in it.
The survey results are expected to be presented to the council later this year.
Council arts and culture manager James Wilson says many of the responses so far have been overwhelmingly in support of a museum. They also tied in with consultation from the 2021-31 Long-term Plan which resulted in a surge of people, unprompted, expressing desire for a community space such as a museum where they could learn history.
"We had hundreds of submissions coming through," says Wilson.
He says he's encouraged and excited by the civic redevelopment plans.
"It's cool that we've got it online but it's not the same. A museum would be a good outcome but there are so many heritage sites sort of dotted around the region, it'd be great to incorporate them in somehow."
Wilson says it is difficult to place an accurate valuation of the total collection as many items have been donated or gifted over the years.
"While the collection is valued for insurance purposes, this is not a true reflection of the collection's value - which is priceless for Tauranga's cultural history and heritage."
Flavell is hopeful.
"To have a museum or some scent of something that we can share the stories we have here, I'm not fussy. I'll be happy with anything that does justice to the city itself and can share our history.
"That's one thing that's missing from Tauranga; the history and the importance of the place in the minds of people. It hasn't been given the place to share for people who have shifted here, there's no sense of what has come before them."
As we head back into the office space on our way out, Flavell takes care to re-cover some objects with plastic and place others such as those mighty moa bones back into the boxes, back onto shelves.
He turns the lights out.
When they will be seen again remains unknown.
* People can visit the Tauranga Heritage Collection website to explore the city's heritage items. Not all have been digitised yet.
* Anyone wanting to share their views on whether the city should have a museum can take part in the Taonga Tū Heritage Bay of Plenty survey on its website.