From pg1 // MLT Event Centre safety concerns

Deputy mayor Cliff Bolger said the council had acted as quickly as it was able to with the issue and he would not comment further.

In the press release, Parry said an assessment of one of the seating support walls, carried out by a structural engineer last week, identified issues with the area’s capacity to support significant weights.

The engineering assessment was commissioned after staff noticed a deterioration in cracks in a section of the seating area.

Parry said the changing rooms and toilets underneath the bleachers, and the remainder of the event centre, were safe. ‘‘Public safety is paramount. ‘‘The specialist advice we have received from a structural engineer is that there is no risk as long as there’s no weight on the tiered seating.’’

Parry says the preliminary assessment carried out by a structural engineer did not identify any obvious risks to the public apart from the seating area.

The event centre was opened in November 2009 and is part of the Gore Multisports Complex.

The structural engineer was Invercargill engineer Tony Major, who also worked on Stadium Southland.

Parry says given Major’s involvement and the minor cracking to some concrete panels, the council would commission a detailed structural assessment of the entire building.

It is hoped to have this completed by October 2018.

‘‘In the meantime, the usual events and competitions at the event centre will still go ahead.

‘‘I want to assure people we will be closely monitoring any areas of concerns,’’ he says.