page_title: Petone Settlers Museum
section_title: Petone Settlers Museum
hierarchical_section_title: Petone Settlers Museum / Petone Settlers Museum
caption_attribution_description: English: stain glass window depicting Te Puni extending his hand to a new settler
context_page_description: Petone Settlers Museum is a local history museum located in the Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial, a historic building in Petone, Lower Hutt, New Zealand. The building was originally constructed to mark the Wellington province's centennial commemorations; the museum opened in the building in 1977. The building was extensively refurbished in 2016.
  The building is classified as a Category 1 historic building by Heritage New Zealand.
context_section_description: Discharge from a major abattoir on the Petone foreshore, the Gear Meat Factory, made swimming at Petone beach unpopular and the bathing pavilions fell into disrepair. In 1977 the western bathing pavilion was converted to the Petone Settlers Museum; two years later the museum extended into the eastern bathing pavilion.
  Today the museum is a repository of information and objects relating to the history of Māori and Pakeha settlement in the surrounding area, as well as the social, cultural, sporting and industrial history of Petone.
  In 2016 the museum underwent a major refurbishment to both the exterior and interior. The $250,000 refurbishment sought to bring back the original look and feel of the building. Features such as decorative concrete grills have been re-instated and the building restored to its original colour. The original beach-front opening at the rear of the building was reglazed, and coloured paint that had been applied to the ship prow and bas-relief sculptures on the building's exterior was replaced with a cream shade, returning them to their original monochromatic state.
  While the project took place, contractors discovered the original tiled foot baths that swimmers had to walk through to get to changing rooms. The museum reopened on 29 May 2016 with a family open day celebrating the refurbishment. $75,000 was also spent refreshing the exhibition spaces inside.
caption: The Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial Building's etched window and sculpture of the prow of the Aurora, c.1940
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