ART GALLERY NOW OPEN

with the project since its inception and with the Picton Library and Service Centre before that, so the opening is a milestone occasion for him. As the project was well advanced prior to the first lockdown in 2020, Luke says the teams were able to continue collaborating online. Some savvy pre-purchasing of materials also helped them to avoid inflationary increases and supply chain delays that hit many other projects over the past three years. The region’s biggest project since the ASB Theatre, Luke says that it was good to have a “long-term project that kept a lot of businesses going during Covid.”

Designed by Warren and Mahoney Architects and built by Robinson Construction, the building is designed to capitalise on its central location. Principal architect Richard McGowan says that the new building is perfectly sited overlooking the Taylor River to the north and the Wither Hills to the south. “It’s such a great location, a great outlook and a great aspect,” he says. “I have no doubt that the building will become the heart of Blenheim, a community centre, a hub of knowledge and a place of treasure, with a modern, striking art gallery sitting inside it.”

The project also received a welcome boost in 2020 with the announcement of $11 million in funding through the government’s Covid-19 Response and Recovery fund for ‘shovel-ready’ projects. Former Mayor John Leggett described it as “a shot in the arm for Marlborough’s construction industry and a vote of confidence in a long-planned Council redevelopment project.”

The new library and art gallery was officially blessed late last month by Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Rārua and Rangitāne o Wairau. Kaiwhakahaere Matua (General Manager) of tangata whenua iwi Rangitāne o Wairau Corey Hebberd said that the new facility sits on whenua (land) adjacent to a former Rangitāne pā site. “The new library and art gallery facility will play an important role as a hub that will sustain and nourish the knowledge, wellbeing and resilience of our community into the future,” he says.

An official naming and opening ceremony will be held on Friday 30 June.