The Old Town Hall has been a familiar plastic-wrapped sight in downtown Whangārei since a fire broke out in 2019. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The Old Town Hall has been a familiar plastic-wrapped sight in downtown Whangārei since a fire broke out in 2019. Photo / Michael Cunningham
A tentative date has been set to restore Whangārei's Old Town Hall, three years after a fire tore through the iconic building.
October this year has been pegged as the start date for restoration work on the historical treasure that first flung open its doors in 1903.
That depends on everything going to plan, says Marie-Katrin Richter, Whangārei District Council team leader major projects.
Building consent will be lodged in August. After that, Richter said, approval for the award of the contract was required and will go to the council for approval in September.
The hall suffered extensive damage in October 2019 when a blaze quickly took hold of the second floor, spread through the roof and destroyed the landmark clock tower.
The Old Town Hall on Bank St in Whangārei was extensively damaged by fire in October 2019. Photo / Kristin Edge
The fire appeared to have started on the upper right-hand side of the building on the second floor.
Seven fire appliances - including brigades from Whangārei, Ruakākā, Portland, Kamo and Onerahi - were called in.
The list of repairs and upgrade work to be undertaken involved a full reinstatement of all fire-damaged areas; the entire roof will be replaced, and seismic strengthening of the building to meet current building standards will be carried out.
"The layout as a whole has been redesigned to include enhancement around accessibility, meeting space and safe entry and exit to and from the rear car park as well as Bank St," Richter said.
There are also plans to install a new lift to allow better access to the upper levels of the building.
Councillor Carol Peters dubbed the wait as "ridiculous".
Given even more time has passed since Peters made the comment at a sub-committee meeting 10 months after the fire, the council has shed light on the reasons for the hold-up.
The insurance payment for the building - with a $5000 excess - took 18 months to process and finalise.
"...this delayed the design and development of the repair plans significantly," Richter said.
She noted how the pandemic had a hand in hampering progress.
"Further interruptions occurred and pressure on progress was exacerbated by the impacts of the Covid pandemic on parties involved in the insurance and design processes and going forward, potentially, on supply chain."
It was only in November last year that architects and engineers were engaged to provide the detailed design.
Heritage New Zealand had been kept in the loop throughout the process to ensure the "heritage feel and fabric" of the Grade B historic building remains.
"This has been made more complex by finding cost-efficient solutions to satisfy the Building Code requirements, particularly in regard to fire safety, retaining the heritage features of the building at the same time and keeping constructability in mind, which is complex and challenging
