Justice precinct open but unfinished

Christchurch’s beleaguered justice and emergency services precinct has officially opened, but the building is not yet complete.

As Prime Minister Bill English and Justice and Courts Minister Amy Adams opened the $300 million yet-to-be finished building yesterday, construction workers huddled out of sight in other parts of the precinct.

The Ministry of Justice is expected to start operating from the building about mid-October. Agencies would start moving in after a public open day on Sunday, Adams said.

A Stuff reporter at the opening said the part of the building where the launch was held looked finished, but 100 metres down the path the parking building and some of the emergency services building was not done.

English, who officially opened the building, recalled that early discussions around constructing the building set ‘‘impossible’’ timeframes, ‘‘but here we are, we’ve just about made it in what were quite difficult circumstances’’, he said.

Adams said the opening was ‘‘a special day for Cantabrians’’, which would ‘‘boost the vibrancy and economy of Christchurch city’’.

The precinct was due to have an official opening in August, but this was pushed back after contractor Fletcher Construction ‘‘further revised’’ the completion date to the end of September for the justice building and the end of October for the emergency services building.

At the time, Adams, the Ministry of Justice and Fletcher Construction all refused to comment on the cause of the repeated delays.

The first planned handover date for the precinct, March 31, was pushed back to June 30, with fitouts to follow.

Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Nicky Wagner said last week the delays would not leave the Government out of pocket.

She said it had cost Fletcher $100m extra.