Construction has now been completed for the Hawke's Bay Museum Research and Archives Centre. Photo / HDC
A $23 million museum storage and research centre has been completed in Hastings to safely house the region’s treasures, with a celebration held for the handing over of the keys.
The eye-catching building in Hastings CBD - close to the redeveloped Municipal Theatre and Opera House - will house tens of thousands of artefacts, artworks and taonga and complement Napier’s museum, the MTG Hawke’s Bay.
On Monday, in a milestone for the project, the Hawke’s Bay Museum Research and Archive Centre was officially passed from the construction team to the operations team.
A Hastings District Council spokeswoman said the final cost of the project was still being finalised, but “will be within the planned budget of almost $23m” excluding the property purchase.
The project has been funded by the Government ($9m), NZ Lotteries Commission ($5.5m), Hastings District Council ($4.6m), Napier City Council ($3.1m), and the Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust (who raised $750,000).
The building has two distinct parts and functions.
On the west side, there is a light-filled, two-storey space for offices, education and research by appointment.
On the east side, there is a climate and light-controlled storage building designed to care for the Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust collection. That includes a specialist shelving system set on rails.
The entire collection is valued at about $43 million and comprises more than 90,000 items – some more than 500 years old.
It is one of New Zealand’s most significant regional collections, and the largest outside the four main metropolitan centres, according to the partner councils involved in the project.
Only a fraction of the collection is on display at the MTG in Napier at any given time, which remains the main location for viewing the region’s treasures and is “the public face” of the collection.
The new facility in Hastings will provide long-term storage (and access by appointment) for the rest.
The collection was previously kept across multiple facilities.
The new building is also safely outside a tsunami zone, which was a consideration in the project.
Public tours and an open day will be held for the new facility in future, when the centre officially opens.
Relocation of the region’s collection to its new home is expected to take about six months.
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the new facility had been years in the making.
“This is more than just a building – it’s an intergenerational investment in preserving our region’s history, culture and stories.
“There has been a lot of care, attention and planning put into creating a place that is both functional and reflects the significance of the valuable collection it will contain.”
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said it was the result of a strong relationship and work between the two councils, mana whenua, funders, kaitiaki and the community.
Master carver Tūhoe Huata’s exterior elements are a stunning feature of the building.
The Hastings and Napier councils bought the site for the project back in 2020, and construction got under way in 2023.
The regional collection includes thousands of taonga Māori of deep cultural significance, such as textiles, kākahu, kete, and a rare kahu kurī.
The collection also includes plenty of artworks, artefacts, textiles, archives and documents, rare books, photographs, and pottery and glass.
The Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust protects and manages the collection.
The trust is controlled and receives funding from the Napier and Hastings councils.
Wairoa District Council and Central Hawke’s Bay District Council have their own museums.