Clutha District Council staff delivered the stark message to councillors in a preliminary museums review report for the council’s regulatory and community committee in Balclutha yesterday.
Council community support and development adviser Lilly Paterson and community heritage co-ordinator Tiffany Jenks are conducting the review, which they expect to complete following next month’s local government elections.
In the report, Ms Patterson said several issues were emerging from discussions with the museums’ committees, including inadequate council funding, failing infrastructure, limited committee members/volunteers, and conservation challenges.
The six museums, in Lawrence, Kaitangata, Tapanui, Owaka, Milton and Balclutha, receive combined council grant funding of about $59,000 a year.
For the past several years, South Otago Museum, in Balclutha — recently renamed Clutha Museum — has received additional funding for a curator.
Feedback from Kaitangata Black Gold Museum secretary Joyce Beck highlighted costs arising from stormwater connections, toilet upgrades and exhibit enhancements.
These were being addressed through a mix of reserve and grant funding, and community volunteer labour.
Owaka Museum said it was fundraising to reroof the "older part" of its building.
Clutha Museum continued to seek a new site for its collection, as its existing building in Renfrew St, Balclutha had well-documented leakage and insulation issues.
In total, the museum housed some 17,000 objects, photos, archives and books.
Some museums received considerable numbers of visitors.
Tuapeka Goldfields Museum in Lawrence — which doubles as the town’s visitor centre — received more than 1000 visits between July and December last year.
Owaka Museum, which also houses a council service centre, had about 11,000 visits, of which about 2400 entered the museum.
Ms Patterson said the review team had talked to Southland councils regarding their museum funding models, and the possibility of a "roving museum officer" to cover all district museums.
The review will look at whether Clutha’s funding is still "fit for purpose".
