As work began to establish a budget for an upgrade of Oamaru’s 1882 Heritage New Zealand category 1 registered art gallery in Thames St, a fire engineer’s report highlighted concerns over the secondary emergency egress through the first floor window at the gallery.
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said council staff had taken a conservative approach to the issue and it would not affect the gallery’s use "too much at all".
"It’s certainly a far cry from the likes of the Southland Museum, that had to close its doors because of risks," he said.
"I don’t see it as a major; it’s just a safety matter which is being dealt with appropriately."
A proposed $6 million amalgamation of the gallery, North Otago Museum and Waitaki District Archive — for which the council had earmarked $1.9 million, secured $1.6 million in external funding, and said last year it expected to secure a further $2.5 million in external funding — was set aside this year.
This winter, the council decided to develop detailed analyses and costings for stand-alone options for the cultural facilities.
"We want to upgrade the building, we want to improve the access in and out of the building and if [the emergency exit issue] is not taken care of before then it will certainly be taken care of as part of that project."
Gallery, museum and archive director Jane Macknight said most visits to the gallery were to the street level and basement galleries but the change would require some different programming for group visits and opening events previously planned for the first floor.
