The Te Newhanga Kāpiti Community Centre which will be demolished. Photo / David Haxton
The Te Newhanga Kāpiti Community Centre which will be demolished. Photo / David Haxton
The Te Newhanga Kāpiti Community Centre, in the heart of Paraparaumu, will be demolished.
It was agreed at a Kāpiti Coast District Council meeting that the building was unusable and needed to be demolished.
“The building will be demolished in the coming months with usable materials recycled at council’s new Otaihanga resource recovery centre,” council infrastructure and asset management group manager Sean Mallon said.
“Council will continue to investigate how we can deliver a new community space to meet current and future community needs, either separately or as part of another council facility.”
A report said the centre had operated since 1996 having been built by the community for the community.
It operated “as a space from which community programmes were delivered, social and community sector services organisations offered services, as well as offering rooms for hire to a range of community groups and individuals needing space for meetings and other activities”.
But in early 2019, building condition assessments “uncovered significant weather tightness concerns and a remedial plan was put in place”.
It was closed to the public during the Covid-19 restrictions but reopened in July 2020 “after remedial works began to improve building conditions” with a focus on “community resilience and welfare response during Covid”.
The Te Newhanga Kāpiti Community Centre which is "compromised and unusable". Photo / David Haxton
However, further building tests “concluded that parts of the building were unsafe for use, due to air quality issues and structural deterioration”.
“Council made the decision to refurbish or replace the centre through the 2021 long-term plan process and the centre was closed to the wider public in June 2021.”
KRT Building Consultants were contracted to carry out a further building condition assessment.
“Their advice is that the remaining building is compromised and unusable.
“This investigation, together with a review of earlier condition reports, has determined that the building is subject to significant weather tightness failure.
“There is widespread failure of the external wall cladding which has led to the confirmed decay of external wall framing and the propagation of toxigenic moulds. There is also localised weather-tightness failure of the roof.
“These issues have collectively rendered the building unusable.”
The company recommended “a completely new build” which “would provide the best long-term value for money as well as the best outcome for users of the building”.
A needs assessment from a range of people in the community, compiled by Mobius, showed there was strong community interest and support for the redevelopment of the centre in the same location.
A ‘meanwhile’ space, around the centre, has been set up as a temporary measure to bring the community together via interactive spaces, various seating arrangements, and a container providing a timeline of the centre’s history.
