Whakatane's Library & Exhibition Centre to open in June
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Whakatāne’s Library and Exhibition Centre will ‘open for business’ at 11.00am on Thursday 28 June, following a civic
ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Whakatāne District Council project completion group chairman, Councillor David Dowd, says the final touches are
now being added to the building in preparation for its fit-out, the installation of exhibitions and the considerable task of
moving the town’s Library into its new premises.
“This really will be an exceptional facility, which befits the home of arts and culture for the Whakatāne District,” he
says. “I have no doubt that library users and visitors to the Museum display and gallery exhibitions will be thrilled with
what they find and experience.”
Mr Dowd says the project completion group is working with a number of potential naming rights sponsors for spaces
within the Centre and is confident that sponsorship income and operational savings will cover most of the funding
shortfall for the building’s fit-out.
“At this stage, we will not be proceeding with any substantial landscaping around the building exterior. That work will
be undertaken at some point in time in the next 12 months, once funding for it has been secured,” he adds. “Until the
formal landscaping project determines where ‘The Lion’ will be located, it will remain outside the Civic Centre. It’s a
surprisingly expensive object to move, so we don’t want to take the chance of having to do it twice.”
The lead-up to the opening will begin on Monday 14 May with a pre-dawn Hiki Tapu ceremony, which will lift the
spiritual protection placed on the building, and those who worked on it, during construction. Exhibition installation and
the Library move will be undertaken in June.
Sponsors and other key stakeholders will be invited to a special preview evening on Wednesday 27 June and the
following morning, the civic opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place from 9.30am. The Centre’s official name will be announced at the ceremony.
Ross Boreham - Whakatane District Council
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