The Lakes District Museum in Arrowtown has been operating for 72 years and is one of the cultural gems of the Queenstown Lakes community. It was established as a ‘Centennial of Otago’ project in 1948 and operates as the regional museum for the Lakes District. The museum occupies buildings in Buckingham Street in Arrowtown and includes the Historic Places category two building which was the former BNZ building. This was constructed in 1875 and was designed by the noted Dunedin architect R.A. Lawson.

The museum is a central point in Arrowtown, an information centre and one of the town’s biggest attractions. It also acts as a community hub, offering its boardroom as meeting space for local charities and groups such as Arrowtown Scouts and the Autumn Festival committee.

Artists use the display area to showcase their works and it has been used for social gatherings. In addition to this, the museum operates the historic Arrowtown Post Office for locals and visitors.

Well before the COVID-19 lockdown the museum’s former Bank of New Zealand building, built in 1865, was marked as earthquake-prone and required strengthening by 2025. A failure to meet the deadline would likely have resulted in the museum’s closure.

Along with the strengthening work, focused on the former Bank of New Zealand building and stables which houses the museum, the building is being restored, and museum displays upgraded.

The $3.5 million project, funded through Queenstown Lakes District Council’s annual plan ($1.04 million), $2 million from the government’s provincial growth fund, and a $426,000 grant from Central Lakes Trust to upgrade the internal displays, commenced in October 2020, and is progressing well, it is scheduled to be completed by March 2022.