Otago Settlers Museum

Otago Settlers Museum curator and historian Sean Brosnahan will attend an international workshop in Edinburgh next month as the museum continues to build closer links with Dunedin's Scottish sister city.

A senior Otago Settlers Museum conservator who was sacked last year for serious misconduct has successfully taken a personal grievance against the Dunedin City Council, which has been ordered to pay him $34,446.

The cost of completing the Otago Settlers Museum upgrade has nearly halved, with Dunedin ratepayers set to benefit from loan cost savings worth about $6 million as a result, Mayor Dave Cull says.

The Otago Settlers Museum Board seems likely to switch to less frequent, perhaps quarterly, meetings next year.

A $578,000 GRANT from the Lottery Grants Board has provided a "huge boost" to Otago Settlers Museum redevelopment fundraising efforts, museum director Linda Wigley says.

The Otago Settlers Museum has had to ditch plans to display a large banner - heralding the museum's $35 million redevelopment - on its Cumberland St frontage, citing insurance and safety concerns.

Costings are being sought from contractors to add a controversial new viewing tower to the $35 million Otago Settlers Museum redevelopment project, but the tower seems unlikely to proceed.

Three wooden armchairs, elegantly crafted in the 19th century, have found their way back to their Dunedin home, after last September's major earthquake near Christchurch.

Youngsters with spray cans are not the only ones producing graffiti, recent research at the Otago Settlers Museum shows.

Otago Settlers Museum Board member Lee Vandervis, who is a critic of museum redevelopment project costs, has also taken issue with the museum's promotional spending.