Taxpayers face a $13 million bill, and tentative plans for a National War Museum have been canned, after the Government failed in efforts to prolong the life of Sir Peter Jackson's troubled Great War Exhibition.
The issue has had the Ministry of Culture and Heritage at loggerheads with Massey University over the future of Wellington's Dominion Building. The ministry wants to extend the lease and lifespan of the exhibition and the university wishes to reclaim the space for its college of creative arts.
A joint press release from the ministry and university last night indicated Massey had won that tussle and would soon reoccupy its building. The exhibition's last day was flagged as December 2.
The move will trigger an estimated $12.7 million in costs for taxpayers for removing the elaborate recreation of Belgian streets and battlegrounds, and large pieces of World War I memorabilia - including artillery pieces and a tank - loaned from Jackson's personal collection. Installation of many of the pieces had required the use of a crane and removal of parts of the roof of the heritage-listed building.
The exhibition had a mix of public and private funding - including millions from Jackson and $7.8 million from Government - but contractual arrangements landed the "make good'' provisions with the ministry. These provisions, initially estimated at only $2.6million, blew out as ministry auditors became aware of the scale of the production.
The exhibition had been hurriedly organised in late 2014 to commemorate the centenary of World War 1, and opened only months later in 2015 on Anzac Day. It suffered long delays in finishing displays after Jackson's Hollywood film commitments led to competing demands for his time.
Ministry of Culture and Heritage chief executive Paul James in a statement claimed the exhibition was a success, with more than 400,000 visitors.
"We would also like to warmly thank the National Military Heritage Charitable Trust for their excellent work in running the exhibition and Sir Peter Jackson for developing the exhibition and lending his extensive collection of First World War artefacts and memorabilia,'' Mr James said.
NZME last month reported ministers had been told initial plans for the exhibition had relied on over-optimistic visitor projections and the project was beset with accountability and financial reporting problems.
The exhibitions' signature display, a painstaking recreation of Quinn's Post on Anzac Cove built by Jackson and his film-making companies, was three and a-half years late in opening and only began accepting visitors in April.
The decision to close the exhibition after final Armistice Day commemorations means the Lord of the Rings director's multi-million dollar, multi-sensory creation will only have been open for seven months.
The development also appears to signal the end of tentative plans - estimated in a scoping business case to cost up to $237 million - to use the exhibition as a pilot for Government to acquire the building and establish a permanent National War Museum.
A request for comment from Jackson's representative was not immediately returned last night, but last month the filmmaker told NZME he was supportive of a permanent war museum but "that requires a commitment from Government, which to date I don't believe has been forthcoming''.
A representative of Massey University said it was hoped the building would return to academic use by the start of the 2019 academic year.
