$6 million award for Sarjeant Gallery Redevelopment

$6 million award for Sarjeant Gallery Redevelopment

The Sarjeant Gallery Trust is proud and thrilled to announce that the Lottery Grants Board Significant Projects Fund, has conditionally awarded a grant of $6 million to the Sarjeant Gallery Redevelopment Project.

Speaking from abroad, Trust Chairman Nicola Williams says that she is “overjoyed at the recent announcement. It is a great vote of confidence in the success of our mission to strengthen and extend the Sarjeant Gallery and look after and provide access to our wonderful collections for generations to come”
“We are enormously grateful for this generous gesture” says Gallery Director Greg Anderson. “It is a tribute to all of the long hours and hard work put in by so many people and wonderful to see that our Project is acknowledged as being important not only to Whanganui, but New Zealand as well.”

The Sarjeant Gallery Trust would also like to acknowledge the assistance and expertise of Marie McKay who helped pull the application together and whose time to do so, was kindly donated by Te Puni Kōkiri.

This recent boost in funds now sees the Sarjeant’s fundraising initiative standing at approximately $32.1 million. The Project itself is estimated to cost $35 million, with all funds needing to be in place by 20th December 2017 in order to fulfil conditions and criteria set out by central government funding bodies.

Ms Williams says that “the Sarjeant Gallery Trust has a very robust plan in place to achieve remaining funding and now this largely consists of further discussions with private individuals and private trusts.

We are very aware that the year-end deadline is not far away so Greg and I won’t rest until we have achieved the goal set for us.”

Ms Williams says “the aim is to commence the construction phase as soon as practicable in 2018, once a construction partner has been retained and detailed design work has been completed.”

ENDS

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