3 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Geopark ‘beacon' to get makeover
Vanished World Centre is getting a facelift.
The Waitaki Whitestone Geopark had raised roughly $450,000 to redevelop "the heart of the geopark", general manager Lynley Browne said.
"This is a real testament to the work of many people for many, many years.
"All the work of Ewan Fordyce, all the work of the volunteers, all the work of the University of Otago geology department and all the others who have believed in it."
The money has come from the New Zealand Lotteries Commission, Otago Community Trust, Waitaki District Council, Alexander McMillan Trust and savings from the centre before they became part of the geopark.
It was important for the quality of the exhibition to match the quality of the fossil collection, Ms Browne said.
"What we're showcasing is world class, but we don't have a world class display.
"We want to make it more interactive, more contemporary, more engaging."
They already have a concept and most of the redevelopment will be internal.
"We want to move as quickly as we can."
Waitaki Whitestone Geopark Trust chairman Mauriri Kimura-McGlinchey was excited about the redevelopment.
"We're really happy to see it going ahead and see this happening.
"It's going to be an absolute gem to see it done up a little bit more and having some extras put into it.
"I think it's going to be great for Duntroon, the Vanished World Centre and the wider Waitaki."
The centre was a fantastic asset to the geopark and the district.
"I don't know of many fossil hubs around New Zealand that are regional.
"It's the centre point of our region being smack in the middle of it and it's a beacon for our geopark."
Mr Kimura-McGlinchey said it was the volunteers who made it worth visiting.
"It's all well and good to have a development and to have a building, but we need people in that building and in that development to share those stories.
"If there is no-one in there to tell those stories, it will be just a building."
The late University of Otago palaeontologist Prof Ewan Fordyce was instrumental in the formation of Vanished World.
He teamed up with landowners in the 1980s to put many of the fossils from the area on display.
The Vanished World Incorporated Society was formed in 2000.
Prof Fordyce's wife Marilyn said the centre and its trail were very important to him.
"Vanished World provided the opportunity to inform others of the richness of this spectacular and unique location once buried under the sea.
"He appreciated the support from locals and the generosity of landowners who allowed access, all of whom were curious about their area and Ewan's research.
"A partnership developed allowing for the possibility of creating a centre to share an understanding of the significance and uniqueness of this locality with the public."
She fondly remembers the day they learned the geopark's Unesco designation was confirmed in 2023.
"It was wonderful that after all his years working in the area Ewan learned of this success before he died in November that year.
"I'll never forget his big smile that day."
