Asbestos issue shuts Auckland Museum, ticket sales loss estimated at $32k

Asbestos found in a critical exit forced the museum's closure on Saturday.

• Auckland War Memorial Museum is losing thousands in ticket sales due to asbestos closure.
• Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson urges Fire and Emergency New Zealand to approve an alternative fire exit quickly.
• The museum loses approximately $8000 daily, totalling $32,000 over four days.

Auckland’s deputy mayor is calling for urgency from Fire and Emergency New Zealand as the Auckland War Memorial Museum haemorrhages tens of thousands of dollars in lost ticket sales.

The museum has been closed since Saturday after asbestos was found in a critical fire exit, requiring Fire and Emergency to approve an alternative exit before members of the public are allowed back.

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson said the museum was missing out on thousands of ticket sales.

“This is a real problem for the museum, they average about 2600 visitors a day,” she said.

“Some of those are obviously Aucklanders who don’t pay, but our visitors to the city who love going to museums [do] ... They’ve lost probably $8000 a day for admissions, over four days of course that’s $32,000.”

Simpson said the lost revenue was “getting a bit scary, and urged Fire and Emergency to prioritise a solution.

“So, urgency from Fire and Emergency to get an agreement with the museum on their emergency fire exit is really, really important because we do need our Auckland War Memorial Museum open as soon as possible,” she said.

There was no indication how long that could take but Simpson hoped it would be a matter of days.

“The timeline for me is ‘as soon as possible’, but it has to be an agreed plan.”

A spokesperson for Auckland Museum said it was yet to receive an update from Fire and Emergency.

RNZ has approached Fire and Emergency for comment.

- RNZ