ASHBURTON FIRE MUSEUM 10
PRESERVE • EDUCATE • ENTERTAIN
ADVERTISING FEATURE Ashburton Guardian Wednesday, April 17, 2019
ADVERTISING FEATURE
T HE H ERTIAGE C OLLECTION O F T HE A SHBURTON V OLUNTEER F IRE B RIGADE Wednesday, April 17, 2019
ADVERTISING FEATURE
Ashburton Guardian
11
Museum’s collection without equal anywhere in New Zealand Far left – Ashburton Fire chief Alan Burgess speaking at the opening of the 130419-HM-0337 fire museum extension. Left – Pegging out the boundary for the Ashburton Fire Museum extension, project chairman Dave Eddington.
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Ashburton’s fire museum and it’s impressive new extension house a collection of equipment, engines and memorabilia that is without equal anywhere in New Zealand. In part that collection owes its success to the forethought of earlier firefighters who saw the value in keeping retired equipment, but it also owes a huge debt of gratitude to a small group of people who not only dreamed of creating a fire museum that would be New Zealand’s best, but who also made this happen. Last weekend the final act was played out in the Ashburton Fire Museum’s history with the opening of a museum extension that has absorbed the time and energy of countless volunteers for more than four years. The museum itself dates back to the late 1970s when it became part of the Plains Village as a small home for fire equipment of the past. In the years since, the collection of fire memorabilia has doubled many times over and with that doubling came the dream of a space that would do justice to the district’s fire past.
In 2015 a point had been reached where the museum’s band of loyal supporters knew something had to be done. The equipment and items they cared for were of huge historic value and they deserved to be well displayed and available for the community to view. Creating the space they needed would take money, and lots of it, but the commitment to preserving the past was made and the fire museum team were prepared to go to great lengths to make it happen. In 2015 plans were made to redevelop the small museum in the Plains Village into a large complex that could house and display the district’s fire heritage collection. This would reinforce the quality and status of what was becoming a nationally-significant and steadily growing collection, that was unique in that virtually every item had been part of the district’s fire-fighting armoury. Their plans were large and they were bold. The fire station would get a 430sqm extension, the current space would be upgraded and the collection would be reinterpreted
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in new displays incorporating audio-visual story-telling technology. Included would be space for the collection of Ashburton brigade material to incorporate new additions, fire engines housed in sheds around the district. The new facility was also to become
an educational tool that schools and community groups could access. Ashburton’s team of firefighters knew the project was beyond them because of the massive time commitment required, so they shoulder-tapped to create a small group of people to form the redevelopment
management team. David Eddington, chairman, Craig Wakelin, secretary and Peter and Larraine McQuarters, Jim Reed and patron Alan McQuarters became the small group that would drive the project from dream to reality. They were joined by a group of
volunteers dubbed Grey Watch. This group added Denise and the late Bill Clark, Graeme Baker, Bill Hart, Bruce Hill, Ian Moore, Ken Peck, Carl Petersen, Frank Sandys and Dennis Dixon to the team. continued over page
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