Metro sports work to start

Christchurch’s long-delayed Metro Sports Facility will finally show some signs of life next month when construction begins.

Contractor March Menard Joint Venture will begin installing about 7500 in-ground stone columns at the site, on the corner of Moorhouse Ave and Antigua St, in August. The ground preparation is expected to take about eight months.

The main construction work is due to begin in early 2019, with Crown rebuild company O¯ ta¯karo planning to send out a request for tender to selected contractors in September.

The project is expected to be finished by late 2021.

Outgoing O¯ ta¯karo chief executive Albert Brantley said the ground preparation was a substantial piece of work. ‘‘Stone column work has been a fairly common sight around Christchurch but not on this scale, given the Metro Sports Facility will occupy over 30,000 square metres.

‘‘As we have seen with the progress on the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre development, once the physical work starts, the progress is swift.’’

The long-delayed $300 million project was put on hold last December, with then-contractor Leighs Cockram Joint Venture axed over a $75m budget blowout – though Leighs Cockram disputed exactly why the deal fell over.

The Government then reviewed the project, including looking at combining it with a stadium, before confirming a trimmed-back version would go ahead.