A tower crane now looms over Rolleston Ave as work on Canterbury Museum’s $247 million redevelopment shifts firmly into the construction phase.

A photo taken just before Christmas shows the crane above a deep excavation where much of the new basement has now been dug out.

The museum says three major concrete pours have been completed for the outer basement floor, which will eventually cover about 4600sqm beneath the heritage buildings and the Robert McDougall Gallery.