TelstraClear Pacific Events centre nears completion

The $48 million TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre in Manukau will open on April 2 with a celebration so special nobody is saying who will perform at the opening.

All Richard Jeffery, the chief executive of the trust building the centre will say is it will focus on youth - and the Manukau Symphony Orchestra will be involved.

Work on the $48 million centre beside the Southern Motorway, designed along the lines of a canoe or waka, will continue through Christmas and New Year as most of the interior is yet to be completed.

Next year a Pou Kapua, or cloud totem, said to be the world's tallest carving, will be erected at the site.

When completed 30 Te Rarawa carvers will have spent three years working on the 40-tonne, 24-metre-tall Pou Kapua produced from one 2000-year-old kauri.

Mr Jeffery says the centre will contain an arena for 3000 people named after the late Sir Woolf Fisher, co-founder of whiteware giant Fisher and Paykel.

The centre will also house the Genesis Theatre, a performing arts centre with seating for 700.

Mr Jeffery says multicultural art will provide distinctive foyers, while the theatre and arena will be acoustically separated.

A timber lattice is also to be installed in the ceiling area.

Mr Jeffery says the centre will take care of the talent in Manukau which has had nowhere to perform.

"The thing about this is - it's a no-brainer. Manukau needs a focal point. It has never had a town hall ... Manukau has lacked that until today and it is because it is a young city."

The council contribution has been under half of the cost of the centre. On average councils contribute about 78 per cent towards such buildings according to Mr Jeffery. There is still about $1 million to raise however.

Several councillors have raised concerns about the project, including that it is too small and that not enough parking is provided.