Delays, cost blowout on town hall
The reopening of parts of the Christchurch Town Hall will be delayed as the project to repair it faces a
$15 million blowout.
However work on the building’s
2600-seat auditorium is being prioritised and scheduled concerts will be held as planned.
The expected extra cost would take the price of the project to $167.2m, up nearly a third from an initial budget of
$127.5m. Just $68.9m of the work is covered by insurance.
The Christchurch City Council has confirmed that a public open day will be held in late February and Kiwi band Shapeshifter will perform with Christchurch Symphony as scheduled on March 1.
A council staff report to be presented to next week’s full council meeting says that the auditorium, foyer, Limes Room and function room are still due to open on February 20. The
1000-seat James Hay Theatre will be finished in April and new facilities for Christchurch Symphony, approved last year, will be ready in May. The full complex will be open in August.
The report follows the council’s request in May for a full review of the project and more stringent controls after a series of cost overruns and delays. It says the exact final cost will not be known until the work is complete, but puts the latest cost overrun at
$12m to $15m.
It recommends that the council approve adding $15m to the budget. The extra money is expected to be found from within the council’s existing capital budgets and would not affect rates.
The review also exposed issues around both finances and the repair programme.
‘‘At times the project has suffered from inadequate project governance and management structures and financial reporting,’’ the report says.
The work is being overseen by a project steering group of senior council staff and managers, who are charged with monitoring the project’s budgetary strategy, value improvement, benefits, risks, quality and timeliness. Construction company Hawkins was signed on as contractor in 2015, and designs are being done by the original architects, Warren and Mahoney.
Changes made as a result of the review have included adding an executive level to the steering group, assigning a new project manager, and bringing in the project team who worked on the new Tu¯ ranga library.
The staff report notes that the town hall project has been complicated by damage to the riverside site, as well as overruns on the roof replacement and rebuild of the Ferrier fountain.
The auditorium, foyer and conference room are 95 per cent completed, while other parts of the building are between 60 per cent and 85 per cent finished. Originally the auditorium and foyer were going to be ready in early
2018.
The complex won acclaim after its
1972 opening for its architecture and acoustic properties.
In 2012 the city council voted to repair, strengthen and modernise the
1970s building, ending suggestions that it should be demolished because of the complex earthquake damage and liquefaction on the site.
Improvements added to the project since it began have included installing full theatre services in the James Hay Theatre, increasing the stage size and improving infrastructure in the auditorium, upgrading the kitchens and function rooms, and doing extra earthquake strengthening.
Cr Jamie Gough, who had warned about the precarious nature of the project in 2015, said the latest blowouts in time and budget were no surprise.
‘‘I don’t take any pleasure in saying it, but this was very clear from day one and my reservations have been well documented,’’ Gough said.
‘‘But I don’t want to take away from the fact that when the job is completed, cost overruns not withstanding, it’s going to be a fabulous facility for Christchurch.
‘‘It has always been a special building, and it always will be a special building.’’
Christchurch Symphony chief executive Gretchen La Roche said the delays would not affect the orchestra, as the auditorium would be ready for their concerts and they had expected their new facility to take longer to finish.