Rebuilding Invercargill
and Southland’s museum.
Project 1225 is about building a new museum, storage facility and tuatara enclosure in Invercargill.
Te Unua Museum of Southland will celebrate the region’s past, present and future. A complete rebuild of the museum, it is expected to open to the public in late 2026. Both Te Pātaka Taoka Southern Regional Collections Facility and Te Moutere – Tuatara Island have now been completed.
Join us on the journey to bring our region’s stories back to life.
Latest News
Construction Cam
Timeline
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Storage facility construction begins
Started in December 2022.
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Design team appointed
The museum building design team were appointed in early 2023 and a draft design is expected by July 2023.
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Te Pātaka Taoka complete
Construction of the regional collections storage facility at Tisbury completed December 2023.
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Collection move begins
Shifting the museum collection from the Southland Museum and Art Gallery to the storage facility at Tisbury began in late 2023.
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Collection move complete
Moving items to Te Pātaka Taoka Southern Collections Facility was completed in April 2024.
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Demolition of pyramid building begins
Physical work to demolish the Southland Museum and Art Gallery begins.
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Museum building construction begins
The rebuild of a new and improved museum will get underway.
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Museum construction complete
The physical build of a new Southland Museum will finish.
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Interior fit-out of museum begins
The focus of Project 1225 will shift to the interior fit-out of the new museum.
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Display collection moved from storage facility to museum
Precious taonga will be shifted from the storage facility at Tisbury to the new museum.
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Museum officially opens
Visitors from Southland and beyond will be welcomed to the museum once more.
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