Partnerships putting roof over Tairāwhiti museum

Tairāwhiti Museum director Tapunga Nepe, right, and board chair Paora Tibble, left, have worked closely with Gisborne District Council staff and Mayor Rehette Stoltz, centre, to drive the rehabilitation of the museum’s failing roof system.

Community partnerships have resulted in critical work being done on the Tairāwhiti Museum roof to help protect the building and taonga housed within.

The roofline’s complicated network of hips and gullies made it vulnerable to failure and expensive to repair.

“This has been a source of stress for our team members who, like many others in our region, have a sense of foreboding whenever we experience heavy rain,” said museum director Tapunga Nepe, who made the work a priority since taking up the role in early 2024.

“And the recent return of Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti’s Hinematioro pou has been a stark reminder of our responsibilities. Caring for taonga from Tairāwhiti and beyond is a great privilege, so we will all breathe a sigh of relief when the work is done.”

The project is well underway, having been kick-started with an initial Gisborne District Council commitment of $150,000.

“We were thrilled not just with the financial support, but also the reinforcement of the very important partnership we have with GDC in providing the cultural services treasured by our community,” Nepe said.

“Significant contributions from our valued community partners Trust Tairāwhiti ($75,000) and the Mangatawa Beale Williams Memorial Trust ($100,000) allowed us to continue the work, and we could not be more grateful.”

The work to date has focused on compromised areas with roof replacement, guttering repairs, installation of insulation, removal of asbestos and repairs to the water-damaged wall in the Main Gallery.

Soon to come was the replacement of a major structural beam, as well as cedar cladding damaged as a result of non-functioning guttering.

“Our building has certainly not been looking its best so we’re looking forward to presenting it – and us – in a way that makes our community proud,” Nepe said.

The museum recently learned that savings could be made by completing work on the area above the Watersheds exhibition sooner rather than later, as had been planned.

Nepe said it had been a long and expensive process and the museum team were grateful to contractors Rapcon Roofing, which helped with the project design and advised on ways to make it as cost-effective as possible.

“That did mean some juggling of timelines but enabled us to save tens of thousands of dollars at a time when funding is tough for everyone.”

The final, yet-to-be-funded repairs will mainly involve work over staff and office areas.

“It does seem a bit unfair that our staff areas are last, especially given the work they have done in protecting, collating and storing taonga through some pretty trying times,” Nepe said.

“Their patience just goes to show their commitment in going above and beyond for their community, and we are very lucky to have them.”