Asbestos alert slows Arts Centre repairs
Workers may have been exposed to asbestos during the restoration of a major Arts Centre site.
The chief executive of the Arts Centre Andre Lovatt confirmed that white asbestos had been discovered in the skim coat plaster in six rooms of the Boys’ High Building on Worcester Boulevard last week.
Work on the site would be halted for up to a month, while the hazardous material was removed and disposed of.
Lovatt said a small amount of plaster work was carried out by contractors before a test was requested and he could not say with certainty that workers had not been exposed.
‘‘We can’t say that, nobody can say that,’’ he said.
‘‘We are behaving in a way that this is a potential exposure,’’ Lovatt said.
He said WorkSafe had been informed about the discovery of asbestos but it had not required formal notification from the Arts Centre.
Lovatt said the age of the Arts Centre ‘‘generally pre-dated’’ the use of asbestos in building materials, but said asbestoscontaining products had been used to redecorate the Boys’ High building.
He said there had been a ‘‘huge amount’’ of asbestos testing undertaken as part of the Arts Centre $219 million restoration.
‘‘We’ve been doing dust testing throughout the building to determine whether or not there’s been any spread, but those tests have come back negative.’’
A source who contacted The Press about the potential exposure said workers from Vertec Concrete Cutting had worked on the site for a couple of days before being made aware of the presence of asbestos.
Lovatt confirmed Vertec were among the contractors working on the site.
Vertec declined to comment on the matter, as did Simon Construction and C. Lund & Son, which are among the 20-odd firms involved in the Arts Centre restoration.
Lovatt said it was not the first time asbestos had been found in the Arts Centre and said he ‘‘would be a fool to say it’s the last time’’.
Asbestos was discovered in the Arts Centre’s Great Hall last year and delayed the reopening by two months.
Overall, the restoration of the Arts Centre was progressing well, Lovatt said, and was on track to be half-way completed by the end of the year.
A WorkSafe New Zealand spokesman said the discovery was ‘‘unexpected as the plaster walls in question were built in 1880’’.
Work at the site had stopped and the Arts Centre was undertaking ‘‘environmental monitoring’’, he said.
‘‘WorkSafe will continue to provide support and advice to the Art Centre and is not investigating the situation.’’