Rob Hick’s model for Tauranga Museum

Rob Hicks in his green shed, surrounded by models.

The roller door goes up on Rob Hicks' green shed and an unbelievable sight greets us.

Among the model planes, boats, uniforms, cars, and tanks, is Rob's model for a Tauranga Historical Precinct.

'This is what I thought you might want to look at,” says Rob, a long-time strong supporter of a museum for Tauranga.

'On Cliff Rd, extending out over the railway line.”

The existing rose gardens are to the left of his museum model, which is built over the carpark of the old bowling club.

There are two layers of car parking, with space under the museum itself for workshops to prepare displays for the exhibitions.

The ground level would be the entrance lobby and café. Overlooking the water is a large restaurant from the basement to ground level.

Rob Hicks with his Tauranga Historical Precinct model.

'I woke up about 4am, 10 or 15 years ago,” says Rob. 'There'd been talk about not having a museum of Tauranga, so I got up and did a sketch and made it like the shape of a waka.

'Then I took it to an architect and asked if there was anyone who could draw it up and make it presentable for taking to council.

'We finished up with plans but we needed a model, so I started building it. Two architectural students came out to my shed, sat down and spent about a week off-and-on drawing it up and cutting it out.”

Rob approached Fraser Tweedie of New Zealand Rail to obtain approval for the concept of the railway line going through a tunnel under the museum.

He even thought of an area for buses to pull in for pre-paid tours. And there's a special entrance and area for acknowledging Maori taonga (treasures).

Tucked away on a shelf nearby is another model, this time capturing some of the Battle of Gallipoli.

His larger diorama of the Battle of Gate Pa was on public display at the Tauranga Airport and was part of the Battle of Gate Pa exhibition in the Greerton Hall in 2014.

It included 150 miniature lead soldiers and is now being stored in The Elms Mission House garage. His green shed also houses a miniature waka and a sailing boat.

Inside his home there are more collections – an upright grand piano more than 100-years-old, furniture that belonged to his grandparents, paintings and prints, a telescope, a Dacre Smyth painting of Gallipoli and a Dinky Toy collection in his office.

In the lounge, a fascinating model of New York Harbour with boats on it sits tucked away behind the couch.

There's warships, The Queen Elizabeth I, tugboats and lifeguard boats, with tiny exquisite detail.

Military models in Rob's red shed.

'Another chap collected this and I bought it off him. I don't think you can buy them now,” says Rob, who bought the harbour diorama about 10 years ago.

The proceeds were used by the seller, Ivan Lindsey, to produce a 500-page book, titled ‘In the heavens above' about New Zealand airmen being trained in Canada.

'I just love miniature things, and all the detail,” says Rob. 'I've never told my wife what it cost me.”

In another corner is a display of Chatham Island shells collected from the stomachs of codfish.

'I've never seen orange and purple shells.”

Rob is concerned all his collections will one day be dispersed and gone.

'This is partly why we built the big red shed so memorabilia can go into it.

'But I've filled that already.”

The red shed has a collection of military models.

'My first ever Dinky Toy was purchased about 1947 when the war had finished. I would have been six or seven-years-old. I chose an American army Jeep.”

No Dinky Toy models were made between 1941 and 1945. The French Meccano factory was occupied by the Germans, and the British factory was on war work. One of the first new models released after the war were U.S. military Jeeps.

Some of Rob's Dinky Toy collection.

'I had ridden in a Jeep in the middle of the war when the Americans arrived here and my aunt was in the Red Cross Transport Corp.”

With the recent talks resuming about a museum for Tauranga, Rob is feeling inspired once again.

His concept would link up The Elms, which represents the period from 1830-1880, with the Monmouth Redoubt, the Tauranga Mission Cemetery and the Brain Watkins House which is about a 15 minute walk away and represents the period from the 1890s to 1960s. It would tell the story of Tauranga, and also be the repository of Maori artefacts held in storage in Auckland and Tauranga. The Tangata Whenua Collective also wholeheartedly supports the Cliff Rd location.

Rob submitted his design more than 10 years ago.

'The word ‘museum' became a dirty word because several councillors lost their seats going back two elections ago,” says Rob. 'And so I changed the name to Tauranga Historical Precinct. I think it's the right time to start building a museum. Money has been promised by central government. The Auckland Museum was only completed 80 years after the first sod was turned.”

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42 comments

hang on a minute

Posted on 07-06-2017 07:27 | By old trucker

PEOPLE DO NOT WANT A MUSEUM,get it Mr Hicks,my thoughts only,DO you notice that it FAVOURS those other people,Sunlive is No1 for NEWS in the Bay, Thankyou 10-4 out.


Collection looks fantastic

Posted on 07-06-2017 07:36 | By Angels

Great collection.Just need to find private funding, not ratepayers money. Museum will be another huge losing adventure for ratepayers.Tauranga is a small city that can not afford more losing projects. We were conned when they opened the art gallery with mis information. The museum is another pipe dream by a FEW people. Private funding only


Doesn't have to in an expensive building

Posted on 07-06-2017 09:19 | By Papamoaner

In new York a big interactive museum is housed aboard the huge WW2 aircraft carrier "Intrepid" People queue up to pay up to $100 to use educational interactive displays, including two working flight simulators. Many of these interactive museums around the world are now self-sufficient because they generate their own revenue. They are educational because kids go away and read up on subjects, then come back for more, bringing their friends. The story's are all over the internet and not hard to find.Some of them double as conference venues attracting international clientele. This is empirical evidence that cultural facilities can be made self sufficient. All we have to do to make it happen, is work our way past the blinkered bean counters that were foisted upon us by Rogernomics.


Hell bent

Posted on 07-06-2017 09:35 | By hapukafin

Tga council is determind to build a museum against the will of the majority of the ratepayers.There is some 600 museums in this country in various state of ill repair(ref.TV) when the novelty of it runs out who is going to pay.ratepayers again as we dont have a say in how the council spend our rates.Auckland has trouble in financing its museum.Recently I took a friend from England there $15 thankyou.


Papamoaner

Posted on 07-06-2017 09:42 | By Angels

Get real. You always are trying to compare ny,etc etc. we are not even big enough to be a ny, suburb.We are a small city with limited ratepayer funds. You would have us all broke as you don,t care about rates. The majority ( MAJORITY) don,t want needless rate increases to build and then every year after keep throwing money at an unwanted museum to keep it running.Pull your head out of your shady side. We are not ny,Wellington,Auckland etc etc. we are a small city. If you want everything at your finger tips. Move to Auckland or Wellington. We do get some ships here but 90% of ship people go to Rotorua etc not here. Why would any experienced traveler waste there $$ on a half rated museum. Wellington/ Auckland maybe.


@ Angels

Posted on 07-06-2017 10:21 | By MISS ADVENTURE

Thats it, the budget is already well and truely spent so nothing left in the coffers now and before the spends get rolling as approved already. The model depicts a massive scale building, the cost of that would be huge if ever it got off the ground, and it cant as Councillors have already decided not to allow ratepayer funds into the equation. But I guess for reasons unknown TCC staff are just bulldozing onward regardless despite and instead. Strange world isnt it?


@ Papamoaner

Posted on 07-06-2017 10:42 | By MISS ADVENTURE

"Doesn't have to in an expensive building"? WOW you really do need to catch up on things a bit ... New-York has a little bit in population plus tourists. Any museum setup wlll loose money and lots of it, the odd one that can break even is certainly the exception. Auckland,s losses tens of millions a year and they have a vast tourist/population compared to Tauranga. NZ does nto have an aircraft carrier, current or past, or hand-me-down ... What we do know is that anything TCC touches will cost a lot, usually three times or more than what it should, we know staff numbers will be double+, we know they will be overpaid and hours attending work will be 9-4 at best. The bills will roll in and be massive. End result there will be a minimum cost to build of$30m,annuallossesof$10-12m


Good on you Rob Hicks

Posted on 07-06-2017 13:29 | By Papamoaner

Thank you Rob for supporting the concept of a museum for Tauranga in consideration of future generations. The idea of the railway running under the museum is brilliant. (No prizes for guessing what that railway station will be called). You can take heart that the majority of Tauranga citizens support the concept of a museum. It has been discussed at length for a few years now, with little objection apart from a small vocal minority. This time, Let's do it without further procrastination - council please take note. People like Rob Hicks with no ulterior motive beyond the good of the community, are the salt of the earth.


@Angels

Posted on 07-06-2017 13:43 | By Papamoaner

A couple of points please;- (1) Could you qualify and quantify the "MAJORITY" to which you refer, and provide a date of any referendum or poll amongst citizens or ratepayers, (not council meetings). (2) Could you explain your definition of a "half rated" museum. Thank you.,


Pepamoaner

Posted on 07-06-2017 15:26 | By waiknot

Don't waste your breath on Papamoaner, he has an end result he wants with reality sn inconvenient truth.


@Miss Adventure

Posted on 07-06-2017 15:50 | By Papamoaner

You confuse range with scale. The Aircraft carrier was a mere comparative example of opportunities. I was not advocating it here. That said, obsolete NZ naval warships are usually free of charge, vide documentation on Wellington and Auckland diving wrecks which cost ratepayers nothing (read Zero), and are effectively marine museums. On that note, Kelly Tarlton Marine aquarium museum founded in 1985, the year Kelly died, was sold to private enterprise around 2010 or thereabouts. Not only self sufficient, but now making a profit. (why else would they buy it after due diligence?). Obsession with rates conservation exclusively, is miserable thinking when we consider it's about one twentieth of your income tax, and about the same cost of tobacco smoking. Most ratepayers (the majority) consider the community at large in these matters by nature.


@Waiknot

Posted on 07-06-2017 15:56 | By Papamoaner

Thank you for your objectivity. Now, hopefully you will be back on topic?


Helios

Posted on 07-06-2017 16:49 | By Helios

Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to present to the City a marvelous model and a proposal which incorporates all that a regional museum/precinct needs for all to enjoy. It will cost money and this should be considered in due course. We marvel at the sites in many European cities and brag about them to friends etc so how about Tauranga make a move to get an identity. There's nothing worthwhile in this city to talk about except for Mau. I don't like paying more rates but perhaps this is one item we need to put some life in the CBD


@Rob Hicks

Posted on 07-06-2017 18:17 | By Papamoaner

Rob, your collection appears to be up there with the best. The Mint Museum in Singapore (we call it the tin toy museum) has thousands of vintage toys like yours, displayed on 5 floors of the building. I have been there twice and they told me the entry fee of (S) $15.00 is low because the kids toy making school the museum runs, plus and conference venue, pays for the museum. It's a private enterprise, so one would imagine it runs at a profit. It was crowded on both of my visits, the last being in 2010 and it was humming. Yet more inspiration for our museum!


My turn

Posted on 07-06-2017 19:45 | By margie

I ,m a ratepayer and lived here since 1986 and my husbands family and ancestors for the last several hundred years. Mr Hicks has a wonderful idea and our city,s history is a colourful and fascinating one. His idea is a very unique one and I wouldn,t compare it to any other city in the world. A museum of this calibre would be a major attraction for tourists from the massive increase of the cruise ships to our fair city instead of watching them all head off to Rotorua to spend their dollars there. I feel we should be open to the possibility of this being a major link to other enterprises for our local people. For example waka tours from the ships to the museum then onto the caf culture of the Strand, or onto the fabulous new cycle trails etc etc.


Me thinks that

Posted on 07-06-2017 22:44 | By The Caveman

1. A council employee, who's job is dependant on the museum going ahead for their job to continue.2. A TCC Council member who is pushing a personal barrow anonymously .3. A person who is "within the inner circle" and expects to get a job when the museum is built.4. OR does not understand that 85% of Tauranga residents DON'T want a LEAD WEIGHT to be added to their rates, when there are other far more urgent matters requiring council RATES expenditure.


Reality check

Posted on 08-06-2017 08:33 | By Angels

Tauranga is a small city,NZ is a small country. We have people here trying to compare us to huge cities like NY ,smaller country with larger population ( Singapore). Their cost are cheaper to build,attend etc etc.we don,t have enough people. We are a very small city and ( country)We do not have the people to pay for these far fetched ideas. If those who are so wanting the museum should find private funding . Better yet if you need everything where you live. Move to Auckland or Wellington and you can have a proper museum. For which neither make money but cost the ratepayers and government (us) money every year. Auckland ,Wellington have a much larger ratepayer base to spread the costs. Get real, to few have too much money and don,t care about the majority and the rate increases. private funding only


@Margie & Helios

Posted on 08-06-2017 09:59 | By Papamoaner

Good comments, and thanks for joining this lively debate. We are a minority on this forum, but a majority in the community. Every bit helps, including your comments. My dream is for a new ship berth near the harbour bridge south of the terminal, so that passengers can disembark and walk through the cemetery area and past Rob's museum site to the CBD. With the talent we have available, we can make the museum too tempting to walk past without popping in. For our kids, museums these days tend to be like quasi universities of science and the world's wonders, with emphasis on interactivity. It's the catalyst for them digging deeper, which is so very important for our communities. There is also potential to incorporate a marine section, the sea being only metres away from Rob's site. Exciting days ahead!


@The caveman

Posted on 08-06-2017 10:15 | By Papamoaner

Continuing your post;- (5) - just ordinary citizens passionate about future potentials, with capability to think outside the square !! Be assured, I for one, am not any of those you listed, but I do confess to having a Super Gold card. Now Mr Caveman, down to business and straight honesty;- Please provide a source for your quoted "85% don't want a museum" Where did you get that figure? Can you quote referenda or poll for that? It is very important in a debate to provide sources when quoting data, lest we think you are being economical with the truth. If you stay under your rock and ignore the question, we will assume you are telling big fibs by inventing statistics. Your move old chap!


@Angels

Posted on 08-06-2017 13:19 | By Papamoaner

Wellington's population ( 2013 census) is 191k. Tauranga 115k. Not a huge difference. You need to do your homework. Your comparison of populations with New York and Singapore are irrelevant to the discussion. I never "compared NY to Tauranga" I merely cited a floating museum as opposed to a building. I find you near impossible to debate with due to your incoherent ramblings. You keep mentioning your "majority" in capitals, but have yet to tell us where you get those figures, Given your historical refusal to answer that question, you are under suspicion for telling big fibs, which is unfair on other debaters on both sides, and also undermines your own credibility.


@Rob Hicks

Posted on 08-06-2017 13:30 | By Papamoaner

Hope you are following this debate Rob. Just a suggestion - if you draw your model up in Solidworks, you can make unlimited changes and expansions, and could generate hard models via additive engineering (or 3d printing), with a "bill of materials" that follows you around and keeps tabs on materials, similar to a quantity surveyor. There will be people locally who would probably do all that gratis for you, considering the good to the community. You don't want to be buying Solidworks software yourself (around $10k) unless you have a constant use for it. One small criticism - When I scaled your model, it looked a lot too small for a good interactive museum. Best of luck mate, and thanks for what you are doing for Tauranga.


Papamoaner

Posted on 08-06-2017 15:14 | By waiknot

To quite "You can take heart that the majority of Tauranga citizens support the concept of a museum"Can you qualify that remark for us. Incidentally my comment on an earlier thread regards Don McKinnons comments is easily verified. You just need to look. Google Radio Live Don McKinnon.


@Waiknot

Posted on 08-06-2017 18:59 | By Papamoaner

Regarding your comment about Don McKinnon's museum comments, I am not interested in debating subjects off other forums. It would mean nothing to other observers on this forum. If you wish to question me on other debates, go to the appropriate forum, post your question, and I will answer it. At pain of repeating myself, this ain't rocket science either.


Papmoaner

Posted on 09-06-2017 09:25 | By Angels

You love to ask question, state that majority want museum. You have no n,umbers to back you up as usual. People have given you talk show hosts showing majority do not want. The council just 2 years ago stated no interest get private money. You keep flapping on about majority. No Ratepayersassocations etc have come forward to promote. No groups will support a losing venture for the rest of history. Why would anyone want to burden the majority of ratepayers with needless taxes to give a very few what they want. The few have too much money and don,t care about majority. Get private funding enough of your bs. Show us anywhere that the majority want this stupidity


@Angels

Posted on 09-06-2017 10:23 | By Papamoaner

You illustrate points I have made regarding the difficulties in debating anything with you. You have demonstrated that you either don't read, or can't comprehend what others say. Or is it that you are just so opposed to alternative views that you simply switch off? Waste of time. It's not possible to debate against an IQ below 90. I give up.


Papamoaner

Posted on 09-06-2017 10:57 | By waiknot

The threads are related, but my comment about Don McKinnon saying Museums not been profitable are repeated. However the main thrust of my comment was asking you to backup your assertion that the majority want a museum. You sidestepped the question which suggests you have difficulty with the answer. ??


Papmoaner

Posted on 09-06-2017 17:16 | By Angels

No need to side step.2006 no confidence and musuem was scrapped, next council were voted in on a no museum platform.2015, sunlive 5 June page4 left hand column 1/2 way down. City council UNANIMOUSLY voted down going forward with any museum proposal as ratepayer had not changed their minds since 2006. Museum must find private funding. City councils recommendation as well as ratepayers.Now you side stepping answer dodging iQ of far less than 90. Go back to your bottle and your pipe dreams. You state majority want without any fact. You are a winging old fart in the minority


@Waiknot

Posted on 09-06-2017 17:42 | By Papamoaner

Don't be ridiculous. You should know I never sidestep questions. Quicksand is not for the sorcerer's apprentice! I answered that question immediately and am waiting for Sunlive to post it. Sometimes they drop the ball and lose postings. It should look familiar to you if you're on the ball because I have previously explained it at length more than once. Meanwhile, here's a precis of it for you to digest;- "There being no objections, the ayes have it Mr Speaker" It is considered authentic and sometimes used by statisticians profiling probabilities. Based upon both anecdotal and empirical proof that communities seldom ever herald that with which they have no objection, but always object exuberantly to that which they take exception to. Hardly rocket science is it?


Papamoaner

Posted on 10-06-2017 10:55 | By waiknot

Yes a post or 2 of mine have not made it. Your justification for claiming a majority are in favour of a museum is hardly conclusive. At best looking for support for a predetermined outcome. If you wish to criticise others you do need to do better than that. One wonders, will the sorcerers apprentice ever qualify. As for rocket science? I'm looking for substantially less than that from you.


No difficulty for the truth.

Posted on 10-06-2017 12:14 | By R. Bell

The ONLY meaningful survey showed a 49% for a museum 31% against 20% undecided. Given the undecided can be calculated at the same ratio as the for and against, and added to the appropriate we end up with 59% for a museum 41% against. A clear majority for a museum. Robin Bell.


@Waiknot and Robin Bell

Posted on 11-06-2017 10:53 | By Papamoaner

Waiknot. If you do some research on silent majorities and vocal minorities you will find arguments that are pretty damn cogent. sufficiently tangible for use by statisticians profiling probabilities. I suggest you try the APA website first - the originators of double column APA print formatting (attention span better with short lines etc). Vide Association of Psychologists of America. Bugger! here I am doing your research for you again! - Robin - I have seen those figures before but don't remember where. Was it a poll, or some sort of referenda? (Hopefully not one of Angel's "majorities" in a small room full of councillors). They are impressive figures - Please elaborate if you have time. I intend to plageurise your data, which I know will be authentic and accurate as always.


@Waiknot

Posted on 11-06-2017 11:19 | By Papamoaner

You accuse me of "looking for support for a predetermined outcome" Shamelessly Guilty as charged, with no remorse! There would not be a single debater who is not seeking his or her outcome, given their passion for or against a museum. The scientific method does not require us to have no opinions or aspirations. It merely requires us to gather and impartially evaluate all data without exclusion, including the accumulation of seemingly useless data over long time periods, lest we never get to identify trends. Robin has identified data that we need to take a closer look at. Once authenticated, it will be the most compelling data set we have seen on this debate thus far, and yes, I do look forward to a few skittles falling so we can finish debating and just get on with it.


Papamoaner

Posted on 11-06-2017 16:01 | By waiknot

I asked for clarification of your statement, you couldn't provide any, fortunately for you R Bell came to your rescue. You want a museum good on you. I think a museum would be nice to, I just want to know with reasonable accuracy what the on going costs will be before I throw my support for or against it. As far as I can see you want a museum and the costs be dammed let's just do it. What an Incredibly foolish attitude you have, if you are not on council let's pray you never get there.


It was a poll, papamoaner,

Posted on 11-06-2017 17:03 | By R. Bell

In Sunlive 3-6-2015 Councillor Gail McIntosh quoted these figures from a previous poll. It is fair to say that Council at that time deemed the support inadequate. Personally I reckon any politician would deem those figures a landslide, and celebrate accordingly. Cheers Robin Bell.


Papamoaner

Posted on 12-06-2017 08:40 | By waiknot

R Bell saved you, you could not backup your claims a majority want a museum. To me it is clear you want a museum and the costs are irrelevant. I like the idea of a museum but want an accurate (as much as possible) assessment of on going costs before I would commit. We have a councillor suggesting crowd funding to fix ammenities we all ready have, clearly there is not pool of money in council coffers. I find your attitude reckless and foolish, perusing your agenda with little regard to costs, even suggesting impossible scenarios (old warships etc) to further this. If you want to use an old boat the sunken Rena comes to mind.


@Waiknot

Posted on 12-06-2017 09:25 | By Papamoaner

And I have provided the clarification you requested. I don't believe you are unintelligent, just lazy at researching data. If you can't accept that the majority of citizens do not object to a museum on the basis I have provided, I can't help you. I note you have also ignored examples I previously provided on self sufficient museums operating as private enterprises. Just one example of that was the Kelly Tarlton aquarium museum in Auckland. perhaps you have a selective memory. Anyway, I am preparing to leave this debate as there are others pressing. pretty much done my dash here. And no, I am not a councillor or anything like it, but I suspect you might be a procrastinating been counter, perhaps now retired. I have summered and wintered bean counters in science and engineering ever since Rogernomics.


@Waiknot

Posted on 13-06-2017 10:17 | By Papamoaner

Maybe I can try to sway you with a different analogy. When we had the Springbok rugby tour in the 1980's, the public objected to the extent of hundreds of thousands of people marching in various places at various times, and in some cases rioting. But when we have major events that are not from countries we don't like, the public at large are happy, but they don't come out in large numbers to demonstrate it. Which ever way you view it, this is empirical evidence in support of the phenomenon "THERE BEING NO OBJECTIONS, THE AYES HAVE IT" which as you well know, is common usage when assessing probabilities in democratic situations where there is no actual vote or referenda. Conversley, if there are a significant number of objections, a vote would normally follow. - There aren't!


Papamoaner

Posted on 13-06-2017 19:18 | By waiknot

I will happily go along with the majority view. The majority still deserve the opportunity to make an informed decision. Untill financial realities are revealed they can't make an informed decision. Again you sidestep the elephant in the room, what will it cost and what are the ongoing costs/profits projected to be. When you started on about converted aircraft carriers I really knew we were miles away with our realities.


@Waiknot

Posted on 14-06-2017 09:10 | By Papamoaner

My mention of the high profile museum on board aircraft carrier "Intrepid" was merely an illustration of venue flexibility, not advocated here as you obliquely infer, but you grabbed it as ammunition, like you grabbed Robin's statistics and converted them to "saving me" and "coming to my rescue" thus indicating your tendency to drop the ball and grab the man when cornered. I don't give a tinker's cuss about who's right and who's wrong, preferring to leave the costs to financial experts which I am not, but have yet to hear one prove our museum would not be viable. But what I DID say, was that some museums are self sufficient, so this one, well managed, could potentially also be. The nearest comparison being Kelly Tarlton marine museum in Auckland, later sold to another company for 13 million, conveniently ignored by you.


@ Papamoaner

Posted on 25-06-2017 11:41 | By astex

The Intrepid museum that you refer to only exists because of huge sponsorship from companies, private individuals and even the U.S. Military. Kelly Tarltons relies on quite expensive admission fees to survive. Neither of which can be used to show how a museum in Tauranga could even begin to pay for itself. Surely, if self sufficiency or even profit was possible private enterprise would have already done it?


@Astex

Posted on 27-06-2017 17:10 | By Papamoaner

You quoted me out of context. I merely compared USS Intrepid museum with a land based building to illustrate that a museum can be "anywhere" in response to someone mentioning the cost of a building. I never advocated it, nor compared costs. The argument is a damp squib. Kelly Tarlton Aquarium museum prices are very reasonable considering there are no additional interactive display costs like some other museums. Its enduring popularity is testament to its viability and success. Musty old free museums where folks whispered, were boring for kids and are now a thing of the past. New world museums are generally interactive, some with additional fees. So we need to be careful when comparing fees, especially composite fees with door fees, because they are all different. Some have tourist fees, thus enabling free entry for ratepayers.


PIE in the sky stuff again.

Posted on 04-07-2017 21:22 | By CONDOR

Citizens do not want an obscenely over the top expensive museum that TCC ratepayers have to fund forever that means either the construction costs or the ongoing Opex. Those who support a state of the art cultural museum can fund it 100% take the profits and wear the losses. To date these freeloaders have raised not 1 cent and will share none of the financial pain when it tanks.Remember the crazy 2007 museum on the water B/S that so enraged everyone but the Councillors that were shown the door.


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