June 11, 2020
PGF covers Hundertwasser Centre cost increase
The Provincial Growth Fund is pumping another $4.5 million in the Hundertwasser Art Centre and Wairau Māori Art Gallery in Whangārei to cover extra costs identified since construction started.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones say the centre is a priority cultural and tourism project which will be a huge draw card for visitors to this region.
The centre, which is considered a work of art in itself, includes complex curved lines and a heavily afforested roof.
Additional costs have included seismic strengthening, removing asbestos from the former port building which occupied the site, deeper pilings , and design changes because of new building rules coming in after the Kaikoura earthquake.
The art centre will hold the only gallery outside of Austria to house a permanent display of artist Friedrich Hundertwasser's art, as well as the Wairau Māori Art Gallery which will become the national home to the best examples of contemporary Māori art
The total budget is now expected to be $33 million.
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