Library fix up for tender after 10 months

The doors at Hamilton Central Library are likely to be shut until at least halfway through 2018.

Hamilton City Council shut the Garden Place library in November 2016, when part of the building was classed as earthquake-prone.

Ten months later – and after sending staff off to investigate other options – councillors made the $635,000 call to bring the building up to the required earthquake standard.

The option was first presented to councillors in April, but it was September when they gave staff the okay.

Councillor Dave Macpherson spearheaded an April motion that sent staff off to look at other central library options – such as moving it into council’s municipal buildings, or shifting part of the central services to Rototuna.

‘‘There’s zero apologies from me for saying we should be looking more broadly at what libraries mean in 10, 20, 30 years’ time,’’ he said.

‘‘The fact it was in hiatus forced us to have a look where we perhaps wouldn’t have before … I’m happy with the outcome.

‘‘It’s going to go back [to Garden Place] for a while but not necessarily forever and a day.’’

That was the only real shortterm option, he said, but the information that staff produced in the process will help with future library decisions.

Cr Paula Southgate would have liked the decision made earlier.

‘‘I do believe that we do need to do things properly and ensure that we’re not wasting public money. But I believe that as soon as it became apparent that going back into the civic building was likely to be quite complicated and costly in the the short term we should have then cracked on getting the library back in Garden Place,’’ she said.

Currently, there’s a hole in the library service council is providing, she said, and Hamiltonians have made it clear they want it filled.

The repair councillors formally approved late-September would bring the building up to the required 34 per cent of the new building standard.

Councillors previously heard the library’s problem spot was around a stairwell, in a staff-only area, and that it could have created a concertina effect on to floors below it.

In simple terms, repairs will involve using super-strong carbon fibre strips to strap floor sections of the building together, as recommended by engineering experts.

Libraries director Rebecca Whitehead’s September report to councillors highlighted the fact that a three- to six-month closure had stretched to 10 months without a decision.

‘‘These delays are causing increasing dissatisfaction and council has been receiving around 90 complaints per month,’’ she wrote before the September meeting.

Now elected members have okayed the spend, the project has gone out to public tender, which should close at the end of October.

Once staff assess the tenders, work can go ahead – but they can’t give a definitive timeframe yet.

‘‘That will be dependent on the availability of the individual contractors.

‘‘However the timeframes that were signalled to us by experts when designing the repair work was that it should take about eight months,’’ Whitehead said.

‘‘We’ve understood that it has been quite frustrating for our customers so we’re pleased that frustration is nearing its end – although we are going to require them to be patient for just a little bit longer while we complete the work.’’

Libraries staff are looking forward to being able to offer a full range of services again, she said – including summer reading programmes and access to the heritage collection.

The library building had no value to council if it couldn’t be used, chief executive Richard Briggs said at the September meeting.

‘‘At a really simple level, it’s about reinstating an asset.’’