Christchurch Multi-Use Arena opening delayed until late 2025

The opening date of Christchurch's Multi-use Arena Te Kaha has been delayed again. Photo / Supplied

The opening date of Christchurch's multi-million dollar stadium Te Kaha has been delayed again.

The new completion date of late 2025 has been highlighted in a new report updating city councillors this week.

In a timeline in the report, it says construction will finish at the end of the fourth quarter of that year.

It was previously expected to be finished by mid-2025.

Construction is set to begin in July, with some early on-site works already under way.

A council spokesperson confirmed there has been a delay with the project, caused by a number of factors.

"One of them was the reset of the project and another is constraints around market and suppliers, particularly with the transportation delays of critical construction components."

They said they will not know the cost or completion date for certain until the contractor provides its final bid.

"However, BESIX Watpac has indicated there could be a delay which has been influenced by market supply."

It is the second time the project has been pushed back during the design phase.

In October, it was delayed from the end of 2024 to mid 2025 due more planning work needing to be undertaken.

It comes as the 30,000-seat covered stadium is believed to be about $50 million over budget.

Earlier this month, the council said it is aware of the potential for cost escalation.

It said they will provide more information when the cost is finalised and a report comes to council in the coming weeks.

The project was marred by controversy when the city council decided to slash seating capacity to 25,000, after saying the budget had already blown out by $131m.

The decision divided the city. Thousands signed an online petition to stick with the original capacity, fearing they could miss out on big All Blacks matches and other key events, which prompted a U-turn to the original 30,000 capacity.

The budget now totals $533m.

The CMUA will occupy much of the central Christchurch site bordered by Hereford, Barbadoes, Tuam and Madras streets.

The arena is 232m long, 195m wide and 36m high at its tallest point, and will have a seating capacity of 30,000 for sporting events and up to 37,800 in concert mode.