Fighting for the Turbos

Rugby and council bosses are scrambling to ensure the first Manawatu Turbos Mitre 10 Cup home game of the season stays in Palmerston North.

The possibility of losing the fixture arose because the need for urgent fire safety improvements has restricted access to all but the ground floor of the Central Energy Trust Arena One grandstand.

Manawatu Rugby Union chief executive John Knowles said it would have been a disaster if the building was not ready for the August 20 match against Wellington.

But the Palmerston North City Council had assured him that was a distant possibility and Knowles believed a move to the Rugby Institute at Massey University could be negotiated as a backup plan.

‘‘It might not be wonderful, and there would be a lot of difficulties, but that’s the contingency plan.’’

The city council closed the top levels of the grandstand after an independent fire safety inspection confirmed there were gaps in the building’s fire barriers.

The smoke alarms and sprinklers were all in good working order, but other features of the building, such as fire-retardant walls and floors, had been compromised.

The problems were where some services, waste and cable ducting had been installed with insufficient smoke- and firestopping seals.

While short of being a dangerous building, the council had issued a notice to fix it.

‘‘We have acted immediately,’’ said city council interim chief executive David Wright.

‘‘It is the only responsible course of action, as we take the safety of our staff and visitors seriously.’’

The grandstand has served the region since its opening in 1986. It was built to replace the previous 83-year-old building destroyed by fire in 1983. The ground floor of the grandstand was still open for business, with easy exits available, and Wright said staff and visitors were quite safe there. Knowles said the union knew about the restrictions on access to the upper levels and about the remedial work that was under way, and accepted the work had to be done. ‘‘There was probably no option, although it does surprise me why the problems were not picked up long ago.’’ He only found out on Thursday there was a possibility, if highly unlikely, that the work might not be completed in time for a start to the season. Wright said until more work was done, and the full extent of problems was discovered, the council could not make a decision about when access to the upper levels of the grandstand, including the hospitality suites, could be restored.

Knowles said he was exploring options with the New Zealand Rugby Union.

Shifting the match to the Rugby Institute would involve negotiating an afternoon kickoff and delayed broadcasting, as it would not be possible to bring lighting up to television standard.

Extra seating would have to be brought in, along with security, and revenue would probably take a knock.

But it would be better than the worstcase scenario of losing the match to Wellington, which Knowles did not think the union could survive.

Knowles said a decision about the location of the match had to be made within the next couple of weeks.

‘‘We can’t leave it until the day before.

‘‘I just hope the council can make it happen. They really need to put these guys into overdrive.’’