Rotorua whānau are being called on to help bring one of the city’s most significant cultural institutions back to life, as fundraising gathers momentum ahead of the planned 2028 reopening of Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa.
Friends of Rotorua Museum is asking the community to support the museum through a special fundraising concert, a community raffle and its ambitious 1,000 Friends campaign.
While strengthening work on the historic Bath House building is fully funded and expected to be completed in September, significant funding is still required to develop the exhibitions that will fill the restored museum.
Those exhibitions will have an important role in telling the stories of Rotorua and showcasing the taonga, artworks and objects that connect the community with its heritage.
The Friends of Rotorua Museum launched its 1,000 Friends campaign earlier this year with the goal of raising $1 million towards the exhibition programme.
So far, $94,000 has been raised, leaving a considerable distance still to travel before the target is reached.
One of the major fundraising events will take place on Saturday, August 22, when local performers reunite for a one-night-only production of Off Broadway at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre.
Led by Evelyn Falconer, the show will feature music from major productions including Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Chess, Jesus Christ Superstar and Grease.
The production has its own whakapapa with the museum.
Off Broadway was originally created to support changes to the Bath House building during the 1990s before going on to be performed around New Zealand, Fiji and Australia.
Now the performers are coming together again to support the building that helped inspire the original production.
All performers are donating their time and the venue has been made available for the fundraising event, allowing proceeds to go towards the museum exhibition project.
Rotorua businesses and attractions are also getting behind the kaupapa through a community raffle.
Prizes include museum tours, Te Puia experiences, Skyline Rotorua packages, Redwoods TreeWalk experiences, Wai Ariki Spa vouchers, art prints and artworks created from museum roof tiles.
Friends of Rotorua Museum president Margie Robbie says the response from local businesses demonstrates the strong sense of community ownership surrounding the museum, with businesses approached for support keen to contribute towards its return.
For Rotorua, reopening Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa is about more than restoring a landmark building.
The aim is to create a place where local stories can again be seen and shared, where communities can reconnect with their heritage and where those stories and taonga can be carried forward for tamariki and future generations.
With the building work approaching another major milestone, the challenge now is ensuring there is enough pūtea to bring the inside of the museum back to life.
The doors are expected to reopen in 2028.
Rotorua is now being asked to help make sure the stories waiting behind them can be told.
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