Unused space in Taumarunui Railway Station seen as excellent option for local museum
Around 30 history enthusiasts turned out at a special meeting last Wednesday (10 May) organised by Council Chief Executive Clive Manley in support of turning the unused space in the Taumarunui railway station building into a local museum.
Mr. Manley said that there was great support for the proposal and it was agreed that the railway station building would be an ideal space.
It was readily apparent from the enthusiasm for the proposal that there is strong public interest in setting-up a museum where our local history and culture can be preserved and displayed, he said.
In addition to the station building Council will be talking separately with KiwiRail for a shed area for the railway enthusiasts (TRAC)"
The meeting agreed to the formation of a Museum Building Executive Committee to oversee the set-up and day-to-day running of the museum.
This will initially comprise; a Chairperson - Council Chief Executive Clive Manley, a historian Ron Cooke, community representatives - Vivien Ruahina and Hokio Tinirau, Historical Society - John Poole and Anne Cribb, Museum Trust - Raewyn West and David Robinson, Ngati Haua - Jim Anderson and Teresa Hall, i-SITE - Kim Treen and TRAC - Gary Stewart and Weston Kirton.
Federated Farmers will also be approached to determine if they are interested in having representation on the Committee.
The official name of the museum will be decided by a separate public process.
"It was recognized at the meeting that some specialist help would be needed to get the museum properly set-up and that the Committee will need to organise fund raising and volunteers for cleaning, painting and any other internal revamp work required"
It was suggested that Waikato Museum may be able to provide technical support for setting the museum up with funding from Trust Waikato which would be ideal."
Council is able to assist with some administrative and communications support.
Mr. Manley said that the next step is that a formal report will go to Council recommending that Council negotiates with KiwiRail and signs a lease for the museum space.
The Executive Committee will have a lot to do to get the museum up and running and so it will be vital that the community continues to support the project going forward.
The next public meeting will be an update from the Committee however this will not be for some time.
In the interim Council has created a page on its website under our-district/community-projects where people can keep up to date or register as a volunteer to help with any working bees.
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