“Heritage is more than dead things on a shelf in dusty, old buildings. To some people, the Edwin Fox is a hull and some bits of old timber. But to me, it's a talisman of how my great-great-grandfather set out to raise a family in New Zealand.”
According to the trust's submission, the walls of the Marlborough Museum were a fire risk, its doors let in ants, and its roof had leaked since “day one”, 31 years ago.
The rear half of the building’s floor had also not been reinforced with steel, as was planned, which “could be a death trap for staff or result in damage to the collections”.