Regional Museums Policy for Capital Construction Projects 2010/11 round

Call for Applications:

Every year the government may choose to call for applications under the Regional Museums Policy for Capital Construction Projects.

Applications are now being called for the 2010/11 round. The total funds available for possible allocation to new projects in this round will be in the vicinity of $2 million. Applications close at 5:00pm Thursday April 1, 2010.

Application Overview:

The Regional Museums Policy has been established to assist regional museums that house collections of national significance. The Policy applies to capital construction projects only. The Policy specifically excludes exhibition projects, ongoing operational costs and staffing.

Applications to the Policy are considered each year on a contestable basis against other applications received and within the funding available.

It is not advisable for projects to be developed with an expectation or assumption that government funding will be available. Given the limited funds available for distribution, applicants must be able to demonstrate that their projects meet all the Policy’s criteria.

Applicants are assessed against the full criteria outlined in the Regional Museums Policy (December 2008) - see bottom of page for links to this.

Self-assessment – a key part of any application:

All applicants are advised to read the Policy carefully before considering whether to submit an application. Careful attention should be applied to reviewing your own organisation and its collections against the policy criteria, with particular focus as to whether your museum has a collection of national significance. It is also recommended that applicants reflect on whether their organisation would qualify as a regional museum in this context.

Regional museums are usually located in a main regional ‘city’ and their core funder is usually a city council. As a general rule this means that only major metropolitan and other significant regional museums and art galleries will be eligible for consideration under this Policy.

Some key criteria include:

acknowledgement that the Policy applies to capital construction projects only. The Policy specifically excludes exhibition projects, ongoing operational costs, and staffing;
an ability to demonstrate qualification within the Policy’s definition of ‘collections of national significance’. All applicants must be able to demonstrate this through the provision of a ‘statement of collection significance’;
an ability to demonstrate that your organisation meets the Policy’s definition of a museum;
presentation of well prepared and documented project outlines, that include fundraising to date and projected costs that are as accurate as possible;
applicant recognition that there can be no expectation of further funding from the Policy to accommodate unforeseen or additional costs;
a requirement that the possibility of funding from other sources has been fully investigated including local authority contribution, corporate sponsorship, community fundraising and Lottery Grants Board allocations;
a requirement that applicants must be able to demonstrate that there is a high likelihood that any resource consent applications required will be secured without difficulty;
a requirement that the New Zealand Historic Places Trust has approved redevelopment proposals which involve heritage buildings and sites;
the project aligns with the principles of good urban design as set out in the Ministry for the Environment’s New Zealand Urban Design Protocol; and
ongoing project viability – applicants must be able to provide ongoing business operating projections, based on reasonable assumptions, for at least three years following the project’s completion. These are required to demonstrate the institution’s long term operational viability.

Application Checklist

When preparing your application please ensure that you address all of the full criteria set out in Policy document Regional Museums Policy for Capital Construction Projects (December 2008). Please note that the Policy has recently been amended to include a new criterion relating to urban design (criterion 9).

To assist you in preparing your application, the Ministry has prepared a guide called the Information Guide and Checklist. This is included as an attachment to the main policy document.

Expressions of Interest

The Regional Museums Policy provides for pre-application ‘expressions of interest’ from institutions that house collections of national significance but are not yet able to meet the Policy’s other criteria. This advises the Ministry of future intentions to apply. If your museum is unable to meet the Policy’s criteria at this stage, particularly in relation to its securing funding from other sources, you may wish to register a written expression of interest to the Ministry with an indication of when an application might be expected to be submitted. This is preferable to submitting a premature application which will have to be declined.

Should you have any queries please contact the Ministry on 04 499 4229 or e-mail info@mch.govt.nz.

Policy and checklist

As HTML:

As PDF file (Adobe Acrobat): Regional Museums Policy for Capital Construction Projects (Updated December 2008) and Information Guide and Checklist (104 kb)

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