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While it has been a long time coming, the
Gallery's development plan can
now move toward its next major phase – construction – following a second interim
decision handed down by the Environment Court in late December. The decision
supported the Auckland City Council's revised design proposal for the level 2
daylit gallery roof, which significantly reduced the roof's height and bulk
while still enabling the Gallery to retain a high quality exhibition space at
the top of the building, leaving the balance of the plan undisturbed.
Given the decision, I can confirm that the main gallery building will close
from 5.00 p.m. on Friday 29 February 2008. The building will close for
approximately 2½ years and throughout this period exhibitions and events will
continue at the Gallery's existing New
Gallery building, just across the road. With the required resource consents
affecting construction in place, we propose to commence building in late March,
subject to the letting of tenders.
This will be a moment gripped with emotion for many people: not least for our
regular visitors and for the many artists who have exhibited in or otherwise
been inspired or challenged by the Gallery and its programmes; and for current
and former staff who will witness the end of an era. While I encourage you to
visit the main gallery building before the 29th to see it for the last time in
its current form, I am hugely relieved that our development vision can now begin
to be realised. Indeed, it returns the Gallery to the world-class standard that
it had hitherto attained through successive developments undertaken right
throughout the 20th century, fully re-equipped to meet the challenges and the
new art and audience demands of the 21st.
I am deeply indebted to our architectural design team and to the consultant
teams supporting them, together with the Gallery's highly committed staff and
other experts from across Council who have worked as tirelessly to help us reach
this milestone. Together with those who have already been both generous and
far-sighted in their contributions to the
Auckland Art Gallery Foundation's
capital campaign, I am confident we are restoring and expanding the country's
pre-eminent gallery in a way that will make Aucklanders' proud.
Chris Saines
Director
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