Transitioning to a New Home

The South Canterbury Museum will be closing on 19 July as we are preparing to move our exhibitions and public-facing programmes to our new facility being built on Barnard Street.

It’s an exciting move, but there is a huge amount of work for our small team to do to be prepared to decommission our current exhibitions and prepare objects, stories, and operations for the new site in April 2027.

What you need to know

  • The current Museum will close on Sunday 19 July.
  • After this date public programmes will be limited, but we’ll be looking to offer pop-up programmes during school holidays and as opportunities arise.
  • Education programmes will continue off-site or in schools during Terms 3 and 4 – but programmes may be limited. Teachers, please reach out and we can discuss your needs.
  • Research services will be paused, and collection access will be very limited until after re-opening. Images orders placed through our website will still be accepted.
  • We will also have very limited ability to accept any new collection items while closed. If you want to discuss donations during this time, please email us in advance.

If you have questions, or need to know more, you can contact us as follows:

Finally, please note we are still very much here and still providing opportunities to explore our heritage. We are also planning some fun public events for our final weeks of opening. Keep an eye on our website, local news, and social media feeds for more information to come closer to the time!