Community Foundation Progress Report Number 2

The following is progress report No 2 on the proposed Hawke’s Bay digital historical archive at Stoneycroft, beautifully located beside the Napier-Hastings Expressway.

A Long-term Vision for Hawke’s Bay

Money is coming in
Hawke’s Bay residents have been voluntarily offering cash since the Hastings District Council decided in December to call for a business plan on the proposal.

The [This] must be completed by the end of March. Phew!

The gifts received to date are an unprecedented start. They amount to some thousands of dollars.

Your donation now would be a welcome addition. It will help convince the council that the archive is an appropriate use for one of Hawke’s [Bay’s] important heritage buildings.

For a perpetual fund
The fund will be everlasting. The proceeds will continue to preserve Hawke’s Bay’s historic treasures long after we have gone. Your name will be recorded as a founding donor.

While one of the immediate focuses of the Community Foundation (HB) is to support the establishment of a digital archive including oral and film galleries, the base fund to which you are contributing will never be touched – only the proceeds.

It’s tax deductible
The Community Foundation (HB) is a registered charity for taxation purposes. Upon your contribution reaching administrator Janice Gilmour at the address below, an appropriate receipt will be issued.

PO Box 2025
Stortford Lodge, Hastings
A registered charity.

THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
HAWKE’S BAY

Add a historical flavour
Funding, based on restoring the interior of Stoneycroft to its past splendour, is required once the project receives a go-ahead from the district council – and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, guardians of covenants on the buildings, grounds and 48 of the trees in the park-like setting.

This creates an opportunity for you to sponsor refurbishing of a room. You will be invited to name one of the galleries after a Hawke’s Bay figure – maybe your forebear?

Register your interest now. Email the project champion, James Morgan.

Name the library
A major sponsor will also apply the name of a significant Hawke’s Bay person or family to the library. Perhaps the family name? This third option for funds will go to supplying equipment of international standard.

Email James Morgan. He is available to speak to you or your group. Phone [phone number withheld].

HISTORY LIBRARY
HAWKE’S BAY DIGITAL ARCHIVE

NZ’s best advisers
Andy Fenton, managing-director of NZ Micrographic Systems, of Desktop Imaging Ltd and the Heritage Materials Imaging Facility, has overseen more heritage digitisation projects than any other kiwi. His guidance comes in the wake of a recommendation from the National Library.

Chris Cochran, New Zealand’s foremost conservation architect, who works with NZ Historic Places and local authorities, says the project is a good use for Stoneycroft. He was recommended by Guy Natusch, Napier. Lily Baker, Hastings, national leader of genealogists, and historian Patrick Parsons, chairman of the Hawke’s Bay Regional Archives Trust, are involved…as are a number of Hawke’s Bay community leaders.

Email James Morgan, for more information.

AND DON’T FORGET TO GIVE. You’ll need the service one day.