$90m library, community hub, civic centre proposed
“Enabling more inner-city living and activity is a no-brainer ... positivity and advocacy for our CBD is absolutely vital.”
Chris Wilkinson, First Retail Group
A new combined library, community hub and civic centre would rejuvenate Nelson’s city centre and send a positive message to the community, landowners and businesses, a city conference has heard.
Yesterday, the Nelson City Council released a report prepared for chief executive Nigel Philpott recommending a combined facility that could be council leased or owned.
Dean Croucher, managing director or independent property and strategic advisory business TwentyTwo, presented the key findings from the business case that was developed at the end of last year at the City Revitalisation Summit.
The one-day event exploring how to refresh and grow Nelson’s city centre was spurred in part by a Nelson Mail series on the topic.
In other communities, similar projects had served as a “catalyst for urban renewal”, Croucher said.
He outlined the challenges currently facing the council, which owned and operated two key facilities that were in
need of reinvestment – Civic
“Nelson does have an ageing population ... net migration is going to be absolutely essential to just keep the lights on.”
Nick Brundsen, Infometrics
House and the Elma Turner Library.
While these buildings might “look like they've got plenty of life left in them”, both assets had significant obsolescence and were “increasingly more expensive to maintain”. They also had “inherent limitations compared to modern facilities”.
The library site was vulnerable to climate change risk because of its close proximity to the river, and the recent investment of $2.5 million to strengthen the building only really extended its life for about 10 years, he said.
In addition, Civic House had “significant deferred maintenance”.
While the concrete structure of the building was seismically sound, work
was needed to strengthen the roof, and to replace structural elements such as ceiling tiles and restraints to remove the earthquake prone building notice.
Several options that would have involved continuing to use these facilities were discarded as unviable, such as combining both facilities into Civic House, which was too small with 5100m2 of usable space, while 6000m2 was needed.
It was also not feasible for staff to remain in Civic House while it was refurbished, as advice indicated that it required a “substantial strip back” to its structural frame, a full replacement of the building fabric and building services. Refurbishment would cost in the order of $54.5 million, and would not provide a library or community hub.
While split site and leasing options were considered, Croucher said the initial work done for the business case indicated that a facility council funds, owns and develops was more economically viable in the long term because of the lower cost of capital.
To test a council led solution versus council leasing a facility, it would have to develop both of these options in more detail, and obtain competitive responses from the market.
Should the council fund, develop and own the facility, that would include an estimated $5 million for land, $65m for the building, and fit out of around $25m, totalling in the order of $90m, with leeway of $10m.
Croucher said that would also allow the two existing buildings to be repurposed, which in the case of Civic House might be to residential use. He anticipated that once a decision was made, it would take 12 to 18 months to prepare a detailed business case.
Philpott said the potential of a combined library, community hub and civic centre was an “exciting option”.
Outlining retailing challenges and trends earlier in the day, First Retail Group’s Chris Wilkinson, told the crowd that losing Wellington’s central library had “hollowed the city centre”.
Wilkinson said that loss had “really impacted” the businesses around it, and it was something of a case of ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’.
Nelson mayor Nick Smith said he wanted to emphasise that no decision had been made on the report.
“Today’s purpose is to receive it and to release it and for our community to be able to digest on it.
“I need to be clear, no site has been identified. It really is that high level big picture question that Dean [Croucher] has posed both for our council and for our community.”
In a statement, the council said the 2024-2034 Draft Long Term Plan retained the $65m currently provisioned for a new library, community hub and refurbished civic centre.
The project, if supported by the community after a full consultation process, would require an additional $20m in the council’s Long Term Plan over and above the $65m for the previous library proposal and existing budget provision for refurbishing Civic House.
However, the extra impact of the further $20m would have no impact on rates until 2029-30 and would be “modest if funded over a long period that is appropriate for an intergenerational asset”.
Other issues that were discussed included challenges for hospitality, construction, retail, growth, investment and employment. However, several speakers expressed excitement and optimism about initiatives such as AI Sandbox and blue economy cluster Moananui.
“We need to work out our why, to rebuild our pride and purpose, we need to work out where we want to head ... what’s our edge, where’s our differentiation, what can we win on?”
Chris Wilkinson, First Retail Group