DOMINION MUSEUM.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1488, 10 July 1912, Page 4

DOMINION MUSEUM.

STATEMENT IN PARLIAMENT.

The presentation to the House of IW presentfitives yesterday afternoon of a list/' genoroßity, led to the Hon. G. VP. Rubsgll making a- long: statement as to what waa m° nbout tll<s builduig of a Dominion Museum in Wellington." - i,o nh,'£V;f; Ml 1800 , (llataura) offered no objection to the placing of tho relic* m til© Dominion Jlusoum/Eut ho thotighfe bv P psL£iat something should bo dona i fi ? make this collection, and other valuable collections in the museum, safo from fire. At present thou, sands of pounds worth of stuff was under great risk by fire, and he thought thatin the meantime the collection should b» placed 111 some safe building. ® ?°! 1 « *?• (Minister fop Internal Affairs) sa.id that when he took elhos the Dominion Museum was the flisli subject to reooivo his attention. He had found that there vras a huge quantity of material in tho museum which could net! be displayed for lack of room. In the oollara there were valuable casca dealing with mineralogy which had not been: opened since 1865, when, they wero iirsti placed' there. Ho had at onoe given, struefcious for tho laying off of a site W a new museum, ana had ordered that} plana,bo drawn for a new building. Theso plans irero now being prepared. The new] building, if the scheme was carried out,' would do plaocd at tho cornor ,of the) Terrace Street and Sydney Street, and tiler frontage 'would extend along Terraco. Tho main block, which would! stand in front of tho Baoteriological< Library, would consist largely- of tlia administrative 6cction of the museum., and from that would bo runming at right) angles tho first wing of tho now museum,) which'would be 150 feet 1 long and SO feet wide, and whioh would consist of two gal 4 leries and a base. In the upper gallery.] provision would bo made for the National' Art Collection, and for similar collections. As Parliament provided funds, ho hojiedj that two similar wings would bo buiW and then there would >bo a musoum build-y ing in ■Wellington commensurate with! the country's importance and historical) associations. The retiring Government) had intended to ask Parliament to grant ■£20,000 for expenditure on the museumj