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A former Lyttelton Museum Society member has backed an idea to use The Woolstore as the home for the long-awaited museum.
Neville Petrie said the vacant building at Te Ana Marina would be a better location for Te Ūaka The Lyttelton Museum than the planned site at 33-35 London St, where the society wants to build.
Bring Our Collection and Stories Home was launched last week, a community campaign aiming to raise $12.6 million for the rebuild.
He said The Woolstore was more practical for visitors because of its parking options, which could help bring more people through the museum’s doors.
“If you look at your demographics, you have women with younger children and senior citizens, those people are not going to want to park up Canterbury St and have to walk down to the museum,” he said.
Petrie said the additional space at The Woolstore could also allow the society to host events and generate extra income.
The building was converted from a former wool store in 2018 as part of Lyttelton Port Company’s Te Ana Marina development. It was intended to house retail and hospitality businesses but has remained vacant.
Discussion around the idea was reignited last week after a social media user suggested it on a Lyttelton community page. The idea received widespread support.
“Sitting out on the waterfront there, looking over the marina, I think it would become a really big attraction, a destination for people to go,” Petrie said.
He joined the museum society because he believed his experience managing Science Alive could be useful.
However, he left the group in 2024 because he felt the rebuild was unlikely to happen in the short term.
“It’s progressing slowly, but if you’ve got something concrete that you can get people involved in, I think there’s a better opportunity to be able to get a museum up and running,” he said.
He said there had been discussions in 2022 between the society and Lyttelton Port Company about purchasing The Woolstore, but plans for the London St site were too far advanced to change direction.
More than 20,000 objects telling the story of Lyttelton, the harbour, Canterbury and New Zealand have spent more than a decade in storage since the earthquakes.
The society is inviting individuals, businesses, philanthropic organisations, trusts and community partners to become founding supporters of its campaign.
Society president Christine Korako would not be drawn on what she thought of The Woolstore idea.
She did not answer a number of questions put to her by Bay Harbour News.
But in an email she outlined the campaign to raise money for the museum rebuild.
She said the campaign launch was a milestone not just for Lyttelton, but for anyone who values Canterbury and New Zealand’s heritage.
“Whakaraupō is where the histories of mana whenua, European settlement, maritime trade, Antarctic exploration and community resilience come together. This museum will ensure those histories are preserved, celebrated and shared for generations to come.”
Most of the collection is currently held at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand in Wigram, while the most sensitive items remain in climate-controlled storage.
The city council gifted the land at London St to the society following a public hearing in 2017.
Despite its role in New Zealand’s history, Lyttelton remains one of the country’s most significant historical communities without a permanent museum.
Construction will take place in stages as fundraising milestones are met, allowing the museum to open progressively.
The society also made a submission to the city council’s Long Term Plan in June.
Korako and the city council would not say how much funding it applied for.
- For more information, go to teuaka.org.nz