Auckland Museum asbestos issue impacts tourism, $2.5m revenue drop
'When we briefly had it at full price, the push back was so enormous that we took the prudent decision to offer it at half price. Even so, we are seeing tourists walk away, which is incredibly sad.
'It's a serious dent in our revenue,' Reeves said.
Last financial year, the museum earned about $3.3m from admission charges.
Reeves told councillors the source of the asbestos is in the Māori Court, where there are remnants of asbestos dust in the ceiling from a job in the late 1980s/early 1990s, which is being distributed around the building from a century-old ventilation system.
He said the asbestos is extraordinarily hard to reach because there is a curved roof on top of a curved ceiling, and it is too small for a person to get into.
When fire alarms go off, it is believed that the massive smoke extraction fans are disturbing the asbestos dust and causing the problems, Reeves said.
Costumes in the Diva exhibition at Auckland Museum.
He said closing the gallery was affecting the museum's tourism offer, but the southern two-thirds of the museum remained open, including the Diva exhibition from London's Victoria & Albert Museum, featuring gowns by the likes of Rihanna and Lady Gaga.
The methodology for removing the asbestos, time and cost were still being worked out, said Reeves, who hoped the museum would have six galleries in the old building reopened by October.
Asked by councillor Chris Darby about the asbestos risk, Reeves said there had been nearly 2000 air tests for asbestos at the museum since May, and not one had shown a result above the WorkSafe limit for safe occupation.
'We are as confident as we can be, for our staff, our volunteers, our visitors, that in the areas of the building that are open, we have not presented an undue risk,' he said.
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