Cyclone Gabrielle has almost been the final nail in the coffin for New Zealand’s colourful $33 million Hundertwasser Art Centre.
Until Thursday, the iconic national tourist attraction in Whangārei’s Town Basin faced closure – barely a year after opening to much fanfare – because of Covid-19 wiping international visitors, the recent Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle’s State Highway 1 Brynderwyns closure.
However Whangārei District Council (WDC) on Thursday handed the Art Centre, which is a council-controlled organisation (CCO), an $800,000 lifeline, averting its closure before the end of June.
The money is made up of $500,000 of previously unbudgeted spending and another $300,000 from the Whangārei Art Trust capital reserve.
WDC general manager corporate Alan Adcock said without the money the centre faced insolvency before the end of the financial year.
Whangārei Art Trust trustee and volunteer chair Dr Jill McPherson said she was relieved the money had been made available following what had been a perfect storm of events since the facility opened in February last year.
She said the closure of SH1 over the Brynderwyns had been the last in a sequence of many issues in what was a perfect storm.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said the council was duty-bound to support the facility, which was a major Whangārei attraction and key part of the Town Basin artistic loop.
There had however been slightly more domestic tourists than expected with 87,000 until the end of February.
The council on Thursday also approved an extra $100,000 operating funding annually from the 1 July start of the 2023/2024 financial year.
Credit: radionz.co.nz
