Dunedin Gasworks Museum to reopen after repairs
The chimney at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum, with machinery nearby.
Photo:
RNZ / Tess Brunton
New Zealand's only gasworks museum will reopen after repairs to its 25-metre high chimney.
The Dunedin Gasworks Museum was closed in April after cracks were discovered in the chimney stack due to possible earthquake damage.
The category-one historic place, owned by the Dunedin City Council, was last month found to be in a
worse condition than first thought
.
The damaged chimney stack at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum.
Photo:
SUPPLIED / DUNEDIN CITY COUNCIL
The council's property services group manager Anna Nilsen said contractors spent three weeks removing about 4000 bricks from the top of the chimney, lowering its height by about four metres.
"The expert advice we've received is that the chimney is no longer an imminent risk to the safety of those around it, so the dangerous building notice issued last month has now been lifted and the exclusion zone around the chimney has been removed," she said.
The museum could return to almost normal operations without the use of the chimney for now, she said.
An affected building notice issued to the neighbouring Woolworths supermarket had also been lifted.
The total cost of the repairs had not been confirmed.
The council had requested a full condition assessment of the chimney and that would determine what further work would be needed and whether it could be used safely.
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