Have your say: In your hands

The former Harbour Board building at the Whangarei Town Basin

In March, you will be invited to vote on three proposals. You will be asked to choose what you consider to be the best use of the old Harbour Board building at the Town Basin, unoccupied for almost 15 years. Location doesn't come into it. It is to do with the building itself.

One proposal is to demolish it. Another is to transform it into a maritime museum - the Harbourside Maritime Museum. This proposal will be totally funded by the WDC and is expected to cost ratepayers $900,000 per annum to operate. So far we haven't been told what the cost to ratepayers will be of the actual renovations.

The third proposal is to transform the building into an art museum, the HWMAC, which will house not only original Hundertwasser art but the best of Maori art also. This proposal will be privately funded - no cost to the ratepayer. The money has been pledged and the proposal has even been endorsed by our Prime Minister, John Key, Minister of Tourism. The Prosper Northland Trust is prepared to underwrite any losses over the next 10 years.

The last two proposals have to meet certain strict criteria. I believe former deputy mayor Phil Halse (and former supporter of the Hundertwasser idea) was responsible for the criteria. Among the criteria is one to "support Maori aspirations" and so therefore I expect the Harbourside proposal will also house Maori art? Some people seem to have a problem with this.

I agree with one gentleman's statement that most museums run at a loss. He gives examples of the Auckland War Memorial Museum and Te Papa. These require an enormous amount of funding.

However, the buildings that house the exhibits are not unique or memorable. I was fortunate enough to visit the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, northern Spain, in 2006. (I suggest people Google it to see what an unusual, unique building it is.) It transformed an ugly industrial city into a tourist mecca.

One could vote for a maritime museum which is not unique or memorable and will not attract tourists and one that will be a burden on ratepayers forever. On the other hand, one could vote for an art museum in a unique building designed by an internationally acclaimed artist and environmentalist.

Former mayor Maurice Cutforth in a speech to more than a 1000 enthusiastic and positive supporters of the HWMAC at a rally at the Town Basin stated that your vote could be one of the most important ever made for our city.

Are you happy for our city to become a "zombie town" as described by the principal economist for the NZ Institute of Economic Research, where retailers are struggling, 40 shops in the CBD are unoccupied and tourists bypass us on their way north? Or would you rather it becomes a vibrant, lively city which encourages people to stop and explore what wonderful things we've got to offer? The choice is yours.

Mary Johnston,
Ngunguru

What do you think? Comment below.