Invercargill's new museum has had its budget increased by $6 million, over 9%, to $71.5 million at Tuesday's (22 Aug) Invercargill City Council (ICC) meeting.

This followed the approval of the building's concept designs and the confirmation of the museum's new name, Te Unua Museum of Southland.

The project, dubbed Project 1225, includes a rebuild of the city’s museum, the construction of a collection storage facility in Tisbury and a dedicated tuatara facility in Queens Park.

Earlier this week the Community Trust South gave the project a funding boost of $5 million, while the Invercargill Licensing Trust lifted their contribution to $1 million.

The ICC advised it will look to seek external funding of $17 million.

The name Te Unua was gifted to the museum rebuild project by Waihōpai Rūnaka in 2021 following the establishment of the Museum Governance Group.

Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark said the gifted name reflected the vision for the museum and the nature of the service that was to be developed.

“As seen in the museum concept designs released last week, Te Unua has been considered in the plans and has shaped the cultural narrative of the new facility.

The double-hulled waka can be seen connecting the south and north entrances to the museum,” Clark said.

“Te Unua is a perfect fit for our new facility. The story behind it connects so well to what our vision is and I’m really looking forward to seeing it come to life in our museum.”

Mana whenua have also indicated their support for the name.

ICC mana whenua representative Evelyn Cook said she was pleased that the use of the name Te Unua could be agreed upon.

“Te Unua Museum of Southland sat comfortably with all four rūnaka in Southland, but what was important to us is that the name is consistent with the story we are telling. I think there is a good rhythm to the name.”

design Tribe director Rau Hoskins said the museum architects found the notion of Te Unua to be very compelling.

“Part of our job in designing has been responding to the geography of Southland, which has included the Sub-Antarctic Islands and Rakiura.

“We felt that creating a design that honoured that name and the partnership that is embedded in that name was a really important thing to do. As insinuated in the Te Unua name, we wanted this museum to be a place that brought the community together and recognised it as a place of continuous arrival.”

In June, Council agreed to connect with the four Southland rūnaka to request feedback on whether to confirm or change the already gifted name for the new museum facility.

Feedback received from mana whenua was supportive of keeping the gifted name and also the preference of incorporating ‘Southland’ into it.