National Aquarium of New Zealand

Under this option we would spend up to $35 million to refurbish and partly demolish the existing structure and construct a new building. As with Option 1, it is important to note that a final budget hasn’t yet been confirmed. It would be finalised through the business case process, which would be the next step. $35 million is a maximum amount, not a targeted amount.

This is not Council’s preferred option because the initial refurbishment cost is higher than building completely new. There will also be higher ongoing building maintenance costs of a refurbished older building, compared to a newly constructed one that is designed fit for purpose.

As with our preferred option, the building would include a new income-earning activity or activities. Exact details on the type of activity have yet to be decided but would fit within Council’s agreed guidelines outlined in Option 1. The new activity would first go through a thorough business case and then community consultation before final Council decision making.

The new facility would have an annual operational grant from Council of up to $2 million and will therefore be developed to operate within this financial limit. It would bring in income from fees and charges, with the goal of reducing the grants over time, as income increases.

This option would remove the cost of running the facility from Council’s budgets, reducing future rates increases. This option allows Council to save money and would support its priorities of being financially sustainable, of Napier being a great visitor destination, and of enabling other organisations to operate places for tourists and locals.

There would still be a large one-off cost to close the building. This includes staff and other internal costs, costs to rehome or release the animals, and the cost to demolish the building. This would be several million dollars.

Like Option 3A, this option would remove the cost of running the Aquarium from Council’s budgets, meaning lower future rates increases. Option 3B would permanently remove a significant tourist attraction from the city, which doesn’t line up with Council’s priority of being a great visitor destination with places that tourists and locals love to visit.

Given the Aquarium’s financial challenges, this is a high-cost option for Napier’s ratepayers and therefore is not Council’s preferred option.

We would continue to be faced with increasing costs to keep the Aquarium’s building maintained to ensure that visitors have an engaging experience, and that there are suitable conditions for animals and people. This cost includes borrowing. This would need to be passed on to ratepayers, meaning much higher future rates increases.

Under this option the Aquarium would remain mostly as it is. Capital expenditure would mainly be used for maintenance and renewal of the existing structure and some modest improvements. Some changes to species may be considered if it’s possible for a higher level of animal welfare within the existing habitats or if it improves visitors’ experience or better meets their expectations. The ability of the Aquarium to increase its income is unlikely to be significantly improved in this scenario.