Ashburton’s Te Whare Whakatere opening delayed until 2024

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

Construction delays will push the opening of Ashburton’s new library and civic centre into next year.

Te Whare Whakatere will not be ready as planned on December 18, and will instead open on January 22, council chief executive Hamish Riach said.

Riach said it had become clear in recent days that some parts of the complex would not be ready for business by December 18.

Ashburton mayor Neil Brown said it was disappointing, but an unavoidable reality.

“It’s taking longer than expected and we can’t do anything about it, it is what it is.

“We just really want to get that building finished.

“There are contractual elements that if the building is not completed by a certain date penalties can apply and we will be working through that.”

About 120 council staff will still relocate to the new building as planned by the end of the year, but the Ashburton Public Library’s move has been pushed back, Riach said.

"We are setting a new date for the library’s relocation and expect it to be open in the new building on January 22," Rach said.

The construction site shutdown over the Christmas and New Year break has had a knock-on effect, he said.

"While we’re really disappointed, we have to be realistic.

“The top floor, where most staff will work, and level one, will be complete as scheduled by December 18.

“Our builders will still be putting the finishing touches in the public areas on the ground floor past that date.”

There would be no public visitors or meetings there until the whole building is ready, Riach said.

"Our whole project team knew that getting everyone in by the end of the year was an important milestone and the effort over the last couple of months has been commendable, with more than 200 staff on site each day."

The build has been besieged by delays since construction began in January 2021, driven by the impacts of the Covid pandemic.

Coupled with inflationary pressures, the project's final cost will be over the budgeted $56.6 million.

The latest delay is not expected to add to the cost of the building Riach said.

A forecast earlier this year estimated the project would overrun its budget by up to 10%, which will be offset by the $20m shovel ready project grant from the Government.

The old library will now stay open until early January and then close for three weeks to allow for more than 60,000 books and other new resources to be relocated.

The council’s customer services team will continue to operate from the old administration building until the ground floor is finished and the new library opens on 22 January.

Staff working from Te Whare Whakatere from December 18 will include the regulatory, infrastructure, business support, democracy, and human resources teams.

A dawn blessing of the unfinished Te Whare Whakatere will continue as planned in December.