Rotorua Museum: Funding secured, but none from insurer yet

Rotorua Museum closed in November 2016. Photo / File

$51.1 million.

That is how much has been secured to fix Rotorua Museum.

And not a cent of it has come from insurers to date.

The category 1 heritage building, which is 111 years old, has been closed since November 18, 2016 when damage was discovered following the Kaikoura earthquake.

There are hopes it will reopen in 2022.

In a recent public update, Rotorua Lakes Council's arts and culture manager Stewart Brown said $51.1 million had been secured towards repair works.

This included $15m from the council, $15m from the Provincial Growth Fund, $10m from Rotorua Trust, $6m from the Lottery Grants Board, $5m from the Regional Culture and Heritage Fund, and $100,000 from the Phillip Verry Charitable Foundation.

Rotorua Lakes Council's arts and culture manager Stewart Brown. Photo / File

When asked by a member of the public if there was any insurance money, he said no.

He said if insurers were to "come along and fix the cracks", that would not fix the issue with the structure of the building.

When asked about the insurance this week, the council said in a written statement insurance claims were still active.

"Any final claims and payments will be publically communicated at the appropriate time," the statement said.

"It is important to note that any insurance payout would only cover the cost of reinstating damage and not additional work required to bring the building up to current building code, eg earthquake strengthening and roof repair."

An earlier Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request revealed the council was paying about $160,000 per annum towards insurance for the building, including a $56m material damage policy, $40m fine arts policy and a business interruption policy for a maximum of up to two years' revenue loss.

The fine arts excess was $25,000 while the combined material damage and/or business interruption - natural disaster excess was 10 per cent of the total material damage sum insured, or $5.6m, as it was insured for $56.1m.

The public presentation about the museum. Photo / Stephen Parker

The council estimated the museum's loss of income to be at least $2.2m per year.

"We are still quantifying the cost of any qualifying repairs, as opposed to strengthening and new code requirements," the council said at the time.

Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers Association chairwoman Glenys Searancke said she was disappointed it had taken so long but said reopening the museum had to be done.

"It's taken so long. That's the most disappointing thing ... it's an awful lot of money but I agree it must be done.

"But the delay to me is almost inexcusable."

Searancke said the cost was a burden on the ratepayer but it was worth it.

"It's such a vibrant place. Just about everybody who came to Rotorua went to the museum because it was so interesting.

"It's an iconic building and iconic gardens. It's part of our heritage."

In his most recent update, Brown said some of the cracks discovered after the 2016 earthquake were "substantially bigger than we'd ever seen before".

Rotorua Museum. Photo / File

Brown said the project was complex for a number of reasons. The building had no steel reinforcement and the floors and walls were made of pumice concrete.

Nails and bolts holding timber frames on to the pumice had gone. The roof weighed about 400 tonnes and the ground condition was poor.

"It's a category one heritage building so it requires some special considerations ... We need to make sure we preserve and protect as much as we can."

Brown said meeting modern compliance standards and fire regulations was challenging, and there was an absence of records for some of the work that had been done to the building.

Brown said the restoration was also about future-proofing and the council was extending climate control to at least 90 per cent of the building and providing better mobility access.

The council also planned to restore some aspects of the museum, including stripping back some additions which had been made.

Rotorua Museum. Photo / File

Since the closure
November 16, 2016: Museum closed.
December 2016 – August 2017: Research, testing and analysis undertaken.
August 2017 – December 2017: Structural strengthening option selected.
December 2017: Detailed seismic assessment rates the building at 19 per cent of new building standard. Buildings below 34 per cent are considered earthquake-prone.
December 2017 – February 2018: Engineers develop structural concept design for strengthening.
February 2018 – December 2018: Detailed drawings developed, estimated costs determined.
June 2018: Council's Long-term Plan allocated $15m.
September 2018: DPA Architects appointed.
November 2018: Opus appointed as project managers.
December 2018: Rotorua Trust commits $10m to restoration.
June 2019: Lottery Board allocates $6m to the museum.
August 2019: Central government allocates $20m.
November 14, 2019: Tender for a contractor closed. There are four contractors proposed who will go before a selection panel. The chosen contractor will be approved at the next council meeting.
Now: Detailed design phase. Contractor will be on-site in the new year.
Next year: New museum director will be recruited. More fundraising to occur.