Gallery may house i-Site longer

The i-Site Dunedin Visitor Centre's occupation of the Dunedin Community Gallery could be extended.

Dunedin City Council staff are reconsidering options to house the i-Site, following its temporary relocation from the Municipal Chambers to the nearby council-owned Princes St gallery late last year.

The move generated complaints from some groups booked to exhibit at the gallery, who said they had been offered an "inferior" building in Moray Pl as an alternative.

However, council customer services general manager Grant Strang said yesterday the decision to defer the planned upgrade of the Dunedin Centre/Town Hall meant plans for the i-Site were up in the air again.

The $45 million upgrade had originally been expected to begin with work on the Municipal Chambers this month, and the i-Site had been scheduled to return upon its completion in September.

However, councillors at this month's 2010-11 annual plan deliberations voted to defer the upgrade in an effort to ease pressure on rates.

That meant the Municipal Chambers element of the upgrade was now not expected to start until at least June, and be completed in February or March next year.

Mr Strang said the delay meant two options for the i-Site were being considered - staying longer in the gallery, or finding a new permanent home elsewhere in the Octagon.

A second temporary - either back to the Municipal Chambers or another short-term home - would not be practical, he said.

"They [i-Site staff] have been shunted around. It isn't a good look and from a customer point of view it's not a good look either."

A final decision would be made by the council's executive management team, with Mr Strang's input, he said.

Council city property manager Robert Clark said when contacted another option was to permanently relocate the i-Site to the ground floor of the council's Civic Centre, which would "depend on tenancies and other things that are there".

Alternatively, the i-Site could remain in the gallery longer, before moving back to the Municipal Chambers part-way through its upgrade, which might be possible, he said.

All the options needed further investigation, he said.

Council communications co-ordinator Rodney Bryant said it was too soon to say what sort of impact an extension of the i-Site's stay in the gallery building would have on community groups.

Further complicating matters was a drop in revenue experienced by the council since it moved the i-Site to the gallery.

Mr Strang said council income from its share of bookings made at the i-Site was down, as fewer cruise-ship tourists made the 50m trip from the Octagon - where they were dropped by buses - to the Princes St location.

"It has had an impact certainly on revenue in the cruise ship season. [The i-Site is] harder for people to find, despite all the signs."

chris.morris@odt.co.nz