Howick Historical Village is to remain closed until summer due to the financial effects of Covid-19.
The village, which also had to cut staff, like many museums throughout New Zealand, has suffered a serious financial impact from Covid-19, says Marin Burgess, president of the Howick & Districts Historical Society.
“We’ve felt the effect of the severe decrease in revenues from tourism, events and education and projections estimate that it will take a significant amount of time for these sectors to recover,” she says.
“To help get us through this difficult period, we are actively seeking financial support from Auckland Council and other agencies, as well as the private sector.
“Our unique living history museum contains some of the oldest original buildings in Auckland and the stories they tell give us a picture of history rarely experienced.
“To preserve these historic buildings, heritage gardens and our collection for generations to come we have had to make the difficult decision to downsize our team and reduce our operations.”
Burgess says they wish to reassure the community that they aim to fully re-open in the last quarter of 2020 “with fresh ideas and a new perspective”.
The café onsite, the Homestead Café, continues to be open to the public for coffee, lunches and treats.
“We look forward to being able to open our doors to the general public but until that time, we have a number of exciting projects under way,” says Burgess.
“These include a new logo, brand and website, continuing our increased digital media presence and outreach programmes for schools.
“We are continuing to take bookings for filming and venue hire such as weddings, in accordance with current guidelines.
“Our dedicated team and volunteers will be working hard to keep our gardens, buildings and taonga protected and maintained.”
