Stalled library and art gallery project 'delaying the inevitable'
Millennium Public Art Gallery director Cressida Bishop says the gallery on Seymour St can no longer keep up with demands, and visitors are missing out.
A public art gallery at full capacity has issued a friendly reminder to the council to get on with its much-anticipated library and art gallery project.
The $16 millon project was first proposed in 2009 and would have seen a public library and public art gallery married together in one high-profile riverside location along Blenheim's Taylor River.
The Marlborough District Council went as far as budgeting $14m for the new Blenheim library, with a $2m contribution for the new art gallery, in the 2015 long-term plan, but funding was later funnelled into water projects.
The combined library and art gallery will replace the green Liquorland and blue Warehouse Stationery buildings, overlooking the newly developed Quays riverside park.
Millennium Public Art Gallery board of trustees chairman Richard Wilson said during the council's long-term plan submissions the need for a new public art gallery in Blenheim had become "more imperative".
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Wilson said the current gallery building was "unable to cater to either current needs or future growth".
The new Picton Library opened earlier this month.
"After more than 18 years since opening, the Millennium Public Art Gallery has reached the full capacity of its current location," Wilson said in his submission.
"The business has outgrown the building," Wilson said. "We are unable to cater to current demands or accommodate new services."
Wilson also said the gallery's environment did not meet the national and international professional museum standards required for the proper care of public art collections, including both storage and display.
Early plans showing the future development of High St, in Blenheim.
"Due to the existing building's age and need for extensive refurbishment, it requires a high level of maintenance and is not of a good standard for a public building," he said.
Millennium Public Art Gallery director Cressida Bishop said the main reason for the submission was because the business could no longer keep up with demands.
"Visitors are missing out and we were hoping to remind the council of that in our submission," Bishop said.
The Marlborough District Library in Blenheim.
Bishop said the gallery still had to raise some funds for its part of the project, but wasn't sure how much until the council released a definitive budget.
The council proposed replacing the current library and art gallery in the long-term plan, as part one of its 'Investing in Infrastructure' plan.
It said providing and maintaining infrastructure was a core council role and was essential to the economic, environmental, social and cultural wellbeing of the community.
The Quays was opened in December last year.
Wilson said a new, properly developed building would "enable the gallery's operation potential to be realised, particularly to support Marlborough's future regional development".
"A relocated public art gallery alongside a new library in a central Taylor Riverside location will provide a lively public precinct that will be full of people and activity," he said.
"A higher profile site would encourage greater participation in and enjoyment of cultural tourism and community education and leisure activities."
Public seating outside the new Picton Library.
It would also attract greater visitor numbers to Blenheim's central business district by attracting greater foot traffic, he said.
Marlborough deputy mayor Terry Sloan said he saw the proposed Blenheim Library and Public Art Gallery building as "a good part of what the community deserves".
"It's location [on the Taylor River] would act as a better attraction to passers and send a statement," Sloan said.
"If you look at the Picton Library, you can see just how much it's down for the town.
"A new building in Blenheim will do lots for the area."
The project made it to the last round of the 2015 long-term plan as part of a $23m revitalisation of the town centre that included the now completed Quays riverside park, beside the amphitheatre.
But the earmarked funds were instead funnelled into more than $23m worth of water schemes in Seddon, Renwick and Havelock.
Wilson said in doing so the council was "delaying the inevitable".
"We as locals were disappointed to have delays in what we considered a fantastic and very necessary anchor project for the local CBD and Marlborough as a whole," he said.
"However, we are confident that it will go ahead to help Marlborough grow as a vibrant and interesting place to live or visit.
"Delays only ultimately result in increased costs and no-one wants that."
Sloan said the Blenheim Library and Public Art Gallery was still on the cards, with a working group made up of council staff and councillors having been formed.
The group would seek expressions of interest into designs for the proposed project next month, he said.
"We'll see what ideas people come back with," Sloan said.
In 2015, council-appointed consultant urban planner Kobus Mentz said the development in the Wynen-High St area took advantage of Blenheim's key natural asset, the Taylor River.
The development would be anchored by a double-storey art gallery and library built on the Liquorland, Warehouse Stationery and former PCMedia sites.
The board said the new gallery would feature "enhanced services", such as additional gallery space, shared facilities and climate-controlled, custom-designed storage rooms and display galleries.
The gallery received $118,500 in operating grants a year from the council, however it was granted an additional $4500 last year to fund equipment for collection management.
Sloan said once the Blenheim Library and Public Art Gallery was built, the Millennium Public Art Gallery's future would be a "decision for the council".
- The Marlborough Express
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