Aotea Sq $80m makeover unveiled

Photo / Supplied

It has taken two years, 800 tonnes of steel and 510 truckloads of concrete but the new Aotea Square is finally open to the public.

The $80 million redevelopment project included upgrading the Aotea Square landscape, replacing and upgrading the Civic car park roof and making improvements to the facade of Aotea Centre.

Councillor Greg Moyle, chairman of the arts, recreation and culture committee, said the result was a "modern and high-quality public space" for all Aucklanders to enjoy.

"The square now provides a safe, family-friendly environment for residents and visitors to enjoy major public events or everyday activities."

The opening celebrations started yesterday with an invitation-only dawn ceremony at 6.45am and a civic ceremony in the afternoon.

Today, members of the public are invited to have their first view of the refurbished square, where a range of free family activities and performances will be on offer from midday onwards.

There will also be food stalls, and walking tours explaining the redesign process.

More than 560,000 hours went into the refurbishment - with enough steel bars to cover the length of the Harbour Bridge 137 times.

Along the way, a car park roof the weight of two fully loaded jumbo jets was raised, strengthened, quake-proofed and lowered into place, while the car park below remained open for business.

The upgraded square features trees, new paving, seating, grassed terraces and ambient lighting.

Aotea Square was officially opened by Sir Dove-Myer Robinson in 1979, three years after the Civic underground car park was built.

A refurbishment of the square was planned from 2000, but was put on hold following the discovery of damage to the Civic car park roof in 2004.

Priority shifted to repairing the roof, which is underneath the square, to make it structurally sound, and this provided the opportunity to combine the roof repair and square upgrade.