The ground has been blessed and the first sod turned to start construction on a new Gisborne war museum dedicated to the C Company of the Maori Battalion.
Dr Monty Soutar, one of the trustees tasked with building the museum, said getting to this point had been a long time coming as it was four years since the Maori Battalion-dedicated exhibition in the local museum was taken down and the search for a more permanent home started.
He said $1.2 million had to be raised for the museum, which was scheduled to open in April.
