Wellington Museum
Reception area, Wellington Museum
Museums Wellington Nairn Street Cottage
In July, Museums Wellington rebranded its four museums: Museum of Wellington City & Sea, Colonial Cottage Museum,Carter Observatory and the Cable Car Museum. All Museums but the Cable Car Museum have new names, being Wellington Museum, Nairn Street Cottage and Space Place at Carter Observatory respectively.
Museums Wellington’s aim is to tell Wellington’s stories. Each of our institutions express a different facet of the region’s story, with new branding that speaks of their individuality while unifying them.
Wellington Museum logo mirrors the Tukutuku panel illustrating Wellington’s harbour on display in level two. Meanwhile, the Cable Car Museum’s logo traces the cable car route from Lambton Quay to Kelburn. Nairn Street Cottage’s logo is a cross-stitched house, referencing young Clara Wallis’ sampler on display in the Cottage. And finally, Space Place’s logo is the Southern Cross, one of the most defining constellations in our southern sky.
Wellington Museum has been renamed to reflect that we have become the Museum of and for Wellington. Since its foundation in 1972 as a single-room Maritime Museum in the Wellington Harbour Board’s Bond Store the Museum has grown and evolved – now telling all of our tales; from the depths of our harbour, of the hubbub of the streets, to the top of the hills that crown our beautiful region.
The wrapper that has been on the building for the better part of the year is now off, and installation of the exhibition in its brand new space The Attic is now well underway. Adding nearly a third of floor space to Wellington Museum, The Attic is open.
Nestled at the top of the Botanic Gardens is Space Place at Carter Observatory. In 2005 a government report recommended that Carter Observatory be transformed into a world-class visitor attraction, paving the way for Space Place. Space Place’s mission is to bring the wonder of our southern skies to earth, with planetarium shows, our informative and interactive galleries, telescope viewing (weather dependent) and friendly, knowledgeable staff to help you discover the wonder of space.
General admission to Space Placeis now cheaper at $12.50 foradults (previously $18). And be-cause there’s only one visible starduring the day, its hours havechanged too. During school termSpace Place is open from 4 to11pm on Tuesday and Thursday, 10am to 11pm on Saturday, and 10am to 5:30pm on Sunday. Space Place is open daily from 10am during the school holidays.
Nairn Street Cottage is one of Wellington’s secrets, telling the story of the Wallace Family’s in their original family home. Wellington’s oldest original cottage, it harkens back to a Wellington when immigrants needed to bring everything with them – from wallpaper to nails and sewing machines, where you needed to be self-sufficient and were far from home. Quaint and charming, Nairn Street Cottage houses Wallis Family heirlooms, and tells the story of one of our oldest settler families alongside significant historical moments in the world.
To find out more about each of our Museums, including the significant redevelopment occurring at Wellington Museum, please see the website at museumswellington.org.nz.
Bay View newsletter 66, November 2015