Auckland War Memorial Museum has been closed for the weekend because of asbestos. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Auckland War Memorial Museum has been closed for the weekend because of asbestos. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Asbestos found in Auckland War Memorial Museum has forced its closure, with staff working remotely.
The museum is closed to the public while assessments and cleaning preparations are underway.
Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson highlighted significant revenue losses, urging Fire and Emergency to prioritise a solution.
More asbestos has been found in Auckland War Memorial Museum, forcing the entire closure of the building and meaning staff are now working remotely.
In a statement on Friday, a spokeswoman said the building was being closed to the public for the weekend after asbestos dust was detected in the old museum building and Grand Foyer.
However, in a statement today, the spokeswoman said asbestos had been identified in “additional areas of the building”.
“As a precaution, we are temporarily expanding the closed areas of the museum while we work to establish the full extent of the affected spaces and prepare for cleaning and removal.”
Museum staff were now working remotely while further assessments were carried out.
Essential facilities and security staff would continue to monitor the building.
“The museum remains closed to the public during this time. As we are working through assessment and cleaning preparations, we are not yet in a position to confirm a reopening date.”
Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals that are often found in older buildings.
Exposure to asbestos fibres can pose significant health risks, leading to several serious lung diseases, including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.
It has also been revealed today that asbestos was first detected in the museum in December, when it was found on the roof in a space not publicly accessible.
Auckland War Memorial Museum is closed due to asbestos.
In March, more asbestos was found during investigative work in the original 1929 part of the building in preparation for the renewal of Te Marae Ātea Māori Court and Pacific galleries.
Static asbestos dust and debris was located in the void area above Te Marae Ātea Māori Court, and on a ledge below perimeter vents.
Te Marae Ātea Māori Court was closed on April 14 on specialist advice to conduct further investigations.
Then last week, as staff expanded the testing area, positive results came back in the Pacific Lifeways and Pacific Masterpieces galleries.
Staff were advised to close these galleries on Wednesday last week.
Subsequent testing returned positive results in the Grand Foyer on Friday, prompting the need to close this space.
Closing the Grand Foyer impacted fire evacuation procedures which is why the museum was closed to the public on Friday “until further notice” while staff consulted with a fire engineer on a revised fire evacuation plan, which had now been submitted to Fire and Emergency NZ.
“During the closure, the licenced asbestos assessor carried out further testing outside of the original 1929 building, including some back-of-house areas, and following preliminary results received [today], we were advised to close the full museum.”
Staff were immediately informed and asked to work remotely until further notice “while further information is gathered about the overall risk”.
The museum was working under the guidance of a licensed asbestos assessor to establish all locations with asbestos and plan for cleaning and removal.
“Safety is our highest priority. Since the asbestos was discovered, continuous air monitoring has confirmed that the museum’s air quality has continued to meet the required Worksafe standard for occupancy.”
The museum was taking a “precautionary approach” under specialist guidance by closing the building to all staff and visitors, other than essential facilities and security teams.
Deputy Mayor of Auckland Desley Simpson. Photo / Jason Oxenham
It comes as Auckland’s deputy mayor Desley Simpson calls for urgency from Fire and Emergency as the Auckland War Memorial Museum haemorrhages tens of thousands of dollars in lost ticket sales during the closure.
“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.
Lane Nichols is Auckland desk editor and a senior journalist for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
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