‘We’ve got to get out of here’

Nelson Provincial Museum’s collection has been damaged after its Research Facility in Isel Park sprung a new leak in heavy rain last week.

The team have been battling leaks in the building that has been “at the end of its natural life for a very long time”, according to chief executive Lucinda Jimson. But this is the first time the collection has suffered damage.

Every time bad weather is forecast, the team springs to action, moving items from problem areas and covering others in plastic.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Lucinda says of the building.

During Thursday night’s heavy rain, a new leak burst through the ceiling and ran down a wall onto a table containing two boxes of historic papers. The damaged items, that had been moved from another problem area, consisted of books, pamphlets and other paper documents. Luckily, rarer, and more valuable items nearby were in plastic tubs or covered in plastic.

Lucinda says the facility, which is home to over 200,000 items and 1.5 million photographs, has become essentially like a ‘Whack a Mole’ when it comes to water leaking in. “You block it up in one point and it comes out somewhere else.”

Collections leader Shae Trewin spent Friday morning in gumboots, on hands and knees, soaking up water from wet carpet using towels and sponges. Now, around 10 dehumidifiers and fans are drying areas throughout the facility.

“The team feels the responsibility of constantly risk assessing where in the building is safe. We’re constantly doing this instead of what we’re meant to be doing,” Shae says.

Lucinda says, they are so close to being able to get the new Archive, Research and Collections Facility (ARC) planned for Church St over the line, with hopes to apply for building consent in May, however funding the project remains a barrier.

“We’ve got commitments from our two councils, and we’ve had private benefactors and trusts come on board and support us so essentially to get started, we need to get the Ministry of Culture and Heritage on board to support this project and really to support Nelson Tasman heritage.”

Sophie White, a visiting researcher from University of Otago, was onsite on Friday morning and witnessed the storm damage.

“It’s sad to see the facility continually facing flood risk, a facility which houses major collections of national significance, and to see the ongoing challenges for collections staff protecting our regional heritage. The ARC is of utmost importance for Nelson Provincial Museum.”

Lucinda says the new facility will bring life to Nelson’s CBD,  safeguard the collection and greatly improve accessibility, enabling the community to connect directly with their heritage.

She says the project should be ready to begin construction before the end of the year.

“We just can’t do another winter in this facility. We were extremely lucky, it wasn’t worse this time. But we don’t know how long we can keep going with more of these weather events coming more and more frequently.”

Go here to support the new facility.