the Wellington Cable Car Museum to be turned into a tourist shop

Crazy or what? The people in charge of the Wellington Museums Trust, which runs the Cable Car Museum as well as the City and Sea Museum, have decided to remove one of the major exhibits so that more cruise ship passengers can be crammed into its shop in summer.  And what does this shop actually stock - books and DVDs on the city's transport history, as you would expect?  No. Instead, trinkets and nick-nacks plus "glossy scenery" items that tourists can find in numerous souvenir shops already. And it is now staffed by people who have no knowledge of or interest in the subject of the museum.

As a matter of urgency, the people in charge of the Wellington Museums Trust need to be dismissed and replaced with people who understand the purpose of museums.

This letter in today's Dominion Post is from Ken Scadden, former director of the Wellington Maritime Museum.