RNZAF Ohakea Museum successor signing today

[Dave Homewood]

Museum successor signing today
By MERVYN DYKES - Manawatu Standard | Wednesday, 12 September 2007

Documents bringing into being the RNZAF Ohakea Visitors' Centre Trust are expected to be signed at Ohakea Base this afternoon.


Air Force spokesman Flight Sergeant Paul Stein said the Trust deed would be signed by the Chief of Air Force, Air Vice Marshall Graham Lintott about 1.30pm.

The new Visitors' Centre is intended to replace the Ohakea Museum, which was closed by the Wigram-based Air Force Museum Trust on May 13.

Destination Manawatu representative Kathy Gibson said the new trust would be formed under the electoral college system and would involve the Manawatu and Rangitikei District Councils, Palmerston North City Council and the Manawatu branch of the New Zealand Division of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Following the museum closure, a working group was established to consider the establishment of a new regional organisation.

"We started in May and have finished in September," said Mrs Gibson.

"That is not long to do something like this. I think we can be very pleased with the time frame."

Setting the timetable for the establishment of the Visitors' Centre will be one of the trust's first tasks.

www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/eveningstandard/4199320a6502.html

[flyjoe180]

What is the purpose of the visitor centre? Will it still contain Ohakea and strike memorabilia?

[Dave Homewood]

I think it will have a recruitment centre and some memorabilia. I don't know though. I think it's really just to appease the locals who complained so bitterly when the museum they'd not previously supported enough was closed.

[Dave Homewood]

Trust for New Museum

By MERVYN DYKES - Manawatu Standard | Thursday, 13 September 2007
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/eveningstandard/4200591a6003.html

Senior Royal New Zealand Air Force officers were startled by the public reaction to the closure of the Ohakea Museum.

"The heartfelt passion and sadness when the museum wing closed several months ago really hit home to us," said the chief of Air Force Air Vice Marshall Graham Lintott yesterday.

He was speaking at the RNZAF Base Ohakea where a meeting was held to sign documents formalising the establishment of a trust board that will set up a new museum and visitors' centre.

"This is a significant step in the process to develop a heritage visitors' centre." he said.

He expressed delight that the way was now clear to establish the centre which would have reference to history, a bit of the present and reach forward to the future, involving the wider community.

However, the trust documents stipulate that the centre will have to provide exhibition space to promote "the national Air Force Museum in Christchurch".

It was the Wigram-based Air Force Museum Trust that ordered the closure of the Ohakea Museum and the transferring of many of its exhibits to Christchurch.

Palmerston North Mayor Heather Tanguay, who also signed the trust documents, agreed that the museum closure (on May 13) caused passion and upset "across the whole region and up into the Hawke's Bay".

However, the formation of the trust gave the community the opportunity to work together for something that would benefit future generations, she said.

The documents named the new organisation as the RNZAF Ohakea Visitors' Centre Trust.

It said the new visitors' centre should be close to Ohakea and operate in tandem with the RNZAF and other participating organisations.

The latter were named as Destination Manawatu, Visions Manawatu, the Palmerston North City Council, the Manawatu District Council and the Rangitikei District Council.

The aim of the centre will be to "attract visitors with an interest in aviation".

Its principal focus will be to "preserve the history of the RNZAF Base at Ohakea and to utilise the visitors' centre to provide exhibition space for the promotion of the national Air Force Museum in Christchurch."

[skyhawkdon]

admin said:

I think it's really just to appease the locals who complained so bitterly when the museum they'd not previously supported enough was closed.

That just isn't true Dave. The Ohakea Museum always had huge local support (financially and otherwise), that is why there was such an uproar when it was closed. What it lacked however was support from the RNZAF and RNZAF Museum of its vision to present and preserve the history of Ohakea in a very unique way. Sad that the RNZAF now acknowledges this but did nothing to stop the closure back in May. I can understand why the RNZAF Museum wanted out of it (I think the feeling was mutual from the Ohakea Museum staff and volunteers), but there was no need for the haste in which they dismantled the displays and shipped them off to Wigram (5 flatdeck truckloads I'm told). It all should have remained where it was until this new Trust was established and could have taken over the existing Museum complete, as it was. Now they have to start again - totally unnecessary, especially considering that all of the stuff removed and taken to Wigram will likely just sit in storage.

[Dave Homewood]

Common Vision For New Centre
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By LAURA RICHARDS - Rangitikei Mail | Tuesday, 18 September 2007

The new Ohakea Visitors Centre, which is intended to replace the museum that closed in May, will celebrate historic aspects of the Air Force at Ohakea - its present and the future.

"It will tell our story and the communities' stories. This is an opportunity for us to work on something really special," the Chief of Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Graham Lintott, said last week.

He was on the base to sign the trust document that will lead to the establishment of the visitors centre.

Last Wednesday, a group who have been working together since before the museum's closure in May to create a replacement facility, witnessed the trust deed signing. They included representatives of four local authorities - Rangitikei and Manawatu District councils and Palmerston North and Wanganui City councils.

A five-member electoral college will be set up to appoint an executive board.

Ohakea's senior commander, Group Captain Shaun Clark said the document represents the three main stakeholders - the RNZAF, the four councils and local aviation enthusiasts.

The electoral college will be made up of two members of the RNZAF, two council representatives and one from the Manawatu branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

They will select the five executive trust board members who will be rotated regularly.

AVM Lintott said the "heartfelt passion and sadness" when the museum wing closed had "really hit home to us".

He said when he was base commander at Ohakea he wanted to have what he called "a window on the Air Force" developed but since that did not happen, he was supporting the visitors centre project.

While he would like to see the centre opened in two years, realistically it would be more like five years.

Palmerston North Mayor Heather Tanguay who co-signed the trust deed, said the feelings aroused by the closure of the museum were heard from as far away as New Plymouth to Hawke's Bay and throughout the region.

Group Cpt Clark said ideas for the future visitors centre need to be discussed to find a common vision.

Market research and a business plan were needed before any decision was made on location, construction and funding.

[FlyNavy]

My wish is that it all goes well for everyone involved. From a distance it sounds good and of course a great pity that recent museum closure events unfolded as reported.