Well that’s not quite what’s going to happen. What is proposed is a $30 million multi-purpose construction sited in Manukau, about 20 k south of the centre of Auckland. It seems the building will also serve as a Te Papa storage facility and potentially a place where other museums might hold exhibitions or displays. If Auckland can get its cultural institutions to work together in this way it will certainly be a breakthrough.
But $30 million? Seriously? The Auckland Art Gallery cost four times that with a reno and rebuild. The mothership Te Papa in Wellington cost $300 million back in the day and the proposed motorway that will eventually take you from the CBD to Manukau to see TePN is currently estimated at a minimum of $105 million per kilometre. And we found at least one house currently being built up North budgeted at around $40 million. So is Te Papa North going to be very small or very cheaply made?
On Radio NZ on Sunday Te Papa CE Mike Houlihan gave a clue to the small category claiming Te Papa North would be "in scale with the local community" (Manukau City alone has a bigger population than Wellington). As to cheap, Houlihan again "it might be more like a classroom than a conventional gallery."
However they go showing the Nation’s treasures comes with a host of high-cost conservation, air conditioning, specialist staff, loading and packing facilities. Hard to believe that $30 mil is going to do much of a job.
So while the idea of having a National collection in Manukau sounds like a new big idea and a real effort to expand Te Papa’s reach and audience mix, the money on the table is vintage Think Small.
