Katikati's museum collection is to be moved to a new home at the old Fire Station on Main Street, but the move is at least six months away, councillors were told this week.

It will take that long to earthquake proof the building, produce designs for interior layout changes and decide on possible extensions.

Katikati Heritage Museum Trust chair Mike Williams outside the old Katikati Fire Station which will house the museum collection, opening in 2015.

It's not expected to re-open until early 2015, engineering services group manager Gary Allis told the Western Bay of Plenty District Council operations committee on Thursday.

Katikati Heritage Museum Trust chair Mike Williams, also a Katikati ward councillor, says the move is 'a great idea as an interim measure”.

'What the resolution says is they want to see the building up and completed so we can display a reasonable amount of the collection, we can't display all of it, as soon as we possibly can,” says Mike.

There's a real fear in Katikati the museum might end up locked away if its not returned to public display soon, says Mike.

'The other thing is, if something doesn't happen relatively quickly, we will lose our volunteers – and that would be a real tragedy.”

It's also possible some collections, gifted to be displayed publicly, could be revoked if shut away, says Mike.

'That could happen, particularly a couple collections; people who gifted them would probably want to take them if they weren't on public display.

'We've had fairly strong suggestions that would be the way they'd look at it, and fair enough too – they've given it for people to see, not sit in boxes.”

Katikati Community Board chair Sam Dunlop says council asked the board to endorse its plan to temporarily house the museum in the old station.

'It was unanimous; the board didn't want the museum locked away, so they've supported council's request for it to go in the old fire station, so it will remain accessible to the public.”

Mike's long-term vision is for WBOPDC to build a new library/community centre on the Little Blue House property.

'I'd like to see that done in the next LTCCP, by mid-2018, then the museum could move to the current library and the old fire station become a community arts hub.

'It has to be consulted with the community, but the Town Centre Plan heads that way.”

Yesterday, the council's committee also moved to support the current design for the old fire station and if modifications were required on the south side of the building, these would be considered in consultation with the Katikati Project Control Group as a possible new home for the information centre and Catch Katikati.