Ms Simmonds was joined at the cutting of the ribbon by Invercargill Acting Mayor Tom Campbell, Cr Darren Ludlow and Cr Grant Dermody.
The facility is part of the Invercargill City Council’s Project 1225 development, which includes the construction of a specialist tuatara enclosure within the animal reserve at Queens Park, a new regional museum and Te Unua Museum of Southland.
Construction of the facility was completed late last year.
It will house previous items of regional museum collections including the Southland Museum and Art Gallery.
Council programme director Lee Butcher said it was great to see some of the objects on the shelves and to see the building being used for what it was designed for.
Mr Butcher was delighted to see the collection of items stored in their appropriate environment and he was proud of the team and the contractors working together.
"The collections are now in a setting where its in a proper building that looks after the treasures and I think that’s really quite important to do it properly", he said.
Ms Simmonds applauded the partnerships between the government and central government in improving Invercargill’s rich, cultural and historic artefacts.
