Hamilton City Council’s Community and Natural Environment Committee approved the budget extension of $954,000 on Tuesday.
This extension includes a contingency for possible further asbestos in the basement and brings the total budget for stage one of the project, which involves complete demolition of the building and returning the site to grass, to $3.65m.
Stage two of the project originally included an extensive development of a community space and multi-purpose park, including space for open-air performances.
However, after the new asbestos finds, the council needed to tone down the project with the remainder of the total $4.1m redevelopment budget, meaning $510,000, now being used to fund a more simple development, prioritising pathways and restoring the Dame Hilda Ross Memorial Fountain.
In a release, the council reiterated it had always been aware of asbestos being present within the theatre building, however, changes to the building over time had hidden the true amount of asbestos present.
“In the last three months, asbestos has been found in four areas that were inaccessible before work began. This includes wrapped around old pipes set in concrete, in wall cavities and in both the stagehouse and auditorium roofs,” the council said.
“Despite intense, invasive asbestos surveys carried out before work began, further discoveries of the material in unusual places have added time and cost to the project.”
The Founders Theatre in Hamilton in 2020.
Yakka Contracting Director Bruce Levin, said it was not unusual to find additional asbestos during demolition, but for his team, the additional places asbestos has been found on this project were totally unprecedented.
According to him, the roof sections contained the largest amounts of unforeseen asbestos.
“In 17 years of demolition projects, we have never come across this usage of asbestos before.”
Council’s independent asbestos assessors, Thomas Consultants, also stated that the use of asbestos under roof sheeting is “extremely unusual and not easily identified in a pre-demolition asbestos survey. It is only through the removal of materials during the demolition phase that the new asbestos has been found.”
Mayor Paula Southgate said the age and structure of the building have also made asbestos removal more challenging for contractors.
“The building was unfortunately in worse shape than had been assumed. The safe removal of asbestos must be our top priority,” she said.
“Council is still focused on creating a beautiful park space for the community but we’ll have to keep it simple, to keep within Council’s budget.”
Stage one, the complete demolition of Founders Theatre, is now expected to be completed in August.
Founders Theatre opened in 1962 and has hosted world-famous musicians like Louis Armstrong, the Beach Boys and Lou Reed. It was closed in 2016 due to significant safety concerns and has since been identified as earthquake-prone.
