Building boom likely to delay Anderson House strengthening
Strengthening work on Anderson House may not go ahead this year as hoped.
Potential contractors have indicated there may not be the capacity to complete the work this year on the building, which has been closed since 2014.
The Invercargill City Council agreed in October to a reduced $1.2 million budget to get on with strengthening and watertightness work to ensure the building can be reopened to the public.
That work was scheduled to take place this year as part of the council’s 2021-31 Long Term Plan, which is currently open for public consultation.
The house was gifted to the city in 1951 by the Anderson family, and it was used as a public art gallery before the council closed it to the public in 2014 because of earthquake concerns.
Council infrastructure group manager Erin Moogan said tender documents had been released but the early indication from the market was that it would be challenging to complete the project in this calendar year because of capacity constraints.
Invercargill is in the middle of a construction boom. The new Invercargill Licensing Trust hotel build, the city block upgrade, and the Southern Institute of Technology creative centre are some are some of the bigger projects taking place.
At a council meeting in April, council group finance manager Michael Day said senior staff had conducted sessions with those in the construction sector in Invercargill and work capacity was one of the themes that emerged.
The council is also yet to firm up just what will happen when Anderson House is strengthened and the doors can open to the public again. It has partnered with the Anderson House Trust to determine the building’s best future use.
The council and the trust would seek input from other stakeholders to determine what use best fits the needs and aspirations of the community and what was achievable within the constraints of the site, Moogan said.
Anderson House Trust chairman Craig Macalister said the trust was waiting for more clarity from the city council. He said he did not want to ‘‘stick the boot into the council’’. However, he admitted to some frustration with how long it was taking to get some decisions on the building’s future.
The $1.2m strengthening and maintenance work, which the council agreed to in October, would simply get the doors back open and Macalister was keen to firm up what would happen after that, he said.
Further investment would be needed to upgrade toilets, and a kitchen would need to be installed to allow functions to be held.
The inside of the house was also ‘‘tired’’ and would also require some work, Macalister said.
The trustees would love to get on with trying to raise the money to carry out the work and felt it would be ideal to carry out that work alongside the strengthening and watertightness work that council had agreed to do, he said.