Fundraising mark missed

Canterbury Museum has missed a fundraising deadline tied to a lease agreement and $24.5 million in public funding for its ambitious revamp plans.

The $195m overhaul of the museum includes plans to restore the Robert McDougall Art Gallery at the back of the central Christchurch building and incorporate it into the attraction.

The museum last year had a $70m funding shortfall for the project.

Christchurch City Council leased the gallery building to the museum in October 2020, and agreed to provide $24.5m for base isolation and structural strengthening works as part of the revamp.

But the funding agreement and the lease were conditional on the museum obtaining money for the entire redevelopment by 5pm on December 31, 2021.

A clause in the funding agreement says it can be terminated by either party if the deadline was not met.

The lease also includes a clause saying it would be automatically terminated if the fundraising deadline was not met.

The council head of facilities, property and planning, Bruce Rendall, said the lease agreement with the museum had not been terminated but was being reviewed.

Canterbury Museum acting director Sarah Murray said it was in talks over possibly extending the funding deadline.

‘‘The relevant clause in the lease agreement is currently being reviewed by the council and the museum with a view to extending the December 31 deadline,’’ she said.

Murray did not respond directly to a question about whether full funding for the development had been secured.

‘‘We are in active discussion with potential funders, including central government, about securing the balance of the funding for the redevelopment,’’ she said.

Press understands that council

staff are looking into plans to use the gallery building to display part of the city’s art collection if the museum’s revamp plans do not come to fruition.

Rendall declined to comment on whether alternative plans for the building were being developed.

‘‘This question is moot at this time,’’ he said.

Christchurch resident Timothy Seay has long campaigned for the McDougall building to be used as an art gallery. He is the grandson of Robert McDougall, who donated $25,000 for the construction of the gallery in 1932.

Seay said the building should be used as an art gallery because that was the original intention of his grandfather’s gift.

The lease and funding agreement between the council and the museum were released to Seay under the Official Information Act.

‘‘The council should exercise their right to withdraw because the museum hasn’t raised the funding and should decide to honour the gift,’’ he said.

‘‘The building was given to the citizens of Christchurch for the city’s art collection, not to the museum for them to use as a museum.

‘‘That is a complete breach of the terms of the gift.’’