Museum to show Taumarunui’s journey through time

The Taumarunui Railway Station Museum Building Committee have held their first management meeting since Council completed successful lease negotiations with KiwiRail to discuss what needs to be done to get the museum open.

Council Chief Executive and Committee Chairperson Clive Manley said that it was very exciting to be finally starting the process of planning the setup of the museum space.

“Although the museum committee members are all excited about getting things underway there is a lot that needs to be done before displays can be set-up and the museum opened to the public.”

“The committee have agreed on a theme for the museum displays based around Taumarunui’s journey through history,” he said.

“This will see displays that capture and reflects the township’s past from early Maori history, to the river, to rail, to milling, to farming through to tourism and today.”

“We are asking for anyone who has items of historical significance that help tell the story of Taumarunui or the district that they would be happy to display in the museum to contact Council.”

“The committee needs a good idea of the number and size of display items before work can start work on planning the displays and the layout of the building.”

“The committee wants to achieve something that Taumarunui can be really proud of and so is bringing in a professional museum curator to help with the display design and management.”

Mr. Manley noted that one thing that some people may be a little unhappy about are the options for the large 21-metre model railway upstairs.

“Originally built by the now inactive Taumarunui Model Railway Club over 20 years ago the model now needs a lot of work to fix it up to a point where it could form part of a display.”

“Unfortunately, there are only a couple of people who have taken any interest in working on it and unless more model train enthusiasts step up and help with its repair and maintenance it is most likely to be put into storage.”

“I am in discussions with the few remaining members of the club to see what its future might be,” he said.

The Taumarunui Railway Station Museum Building Committee’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday 30 October.

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