Inside Wellington's Town Hall. Photo / Wellington City Council
Inside Wellington's Town Hall. Photo / Wellington City Council
Wellington City Council has agreed to fund a cost increase of up to $147 million for the Town Hall strengthening project - a situation the Deputy Mayor has described as a stalemate.
Since the Town Hall was declared earthquake-prone and closed in 2013, the cost of the work has grown from $43m to $60m to $90m to $112m and, last year, to $182m.
The cost escalation has been put down to the condition of the building and the ground it sits on being worse than expected.
But council officials hope they can avoid the worst-case scenario and deliver the project for $264m.
Feeling despondent reading papers on the town hall. Such limited options to spending all this money on a building that would never be built today when there are so many other more important things to do. Please find me a way back machine to avoid this shit show.
Costs could be offset by partnering with a private developer on the neighbouring Municipal Office Building (MOB) that’s earmarked for demolition. This would deliver the Town Hall’s front-of-house requirements such as hospitality and breakout spaces.
If necessary, the opening of the Town Hall could be delayed until the MOB development is complete to avoid the expense of building temporary front-of-house facilities.
Mayor Tory Whanau said the council was facing several financial challenges and the Town Hall decision was not a welcome one.
“We cannot ignore it and hope it will go away, we have to deal with what’s in front of us.”
There has been a lot of negativity about Wellington lately, Whanau said.
But she said she will not sweep challenges under the carpet and the council has to move forward.
Councillor Nicola Young said that given the Michael Fowler Centre has just been deemed earthquake-prone, the restoration of the Town Hall was necessary to keep a major performance venue in the city.
“The project needs certainty and it needs it quickly.”
Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon said it was a “stalemate” and reluctantly voted for the extra money. Meanwhile, Sarah Free said she resented being told there was only one option, but in this case agreed there was.
Councillor Ben McNulty was angry.
“We’ve made commitments in our annual plan where we are now looking at going back on some of those commitments while this has been bubbling under the surface,” he said.
McNulty successfully got some amendments across the line on behalf of Labour councillors.
Council officials will investigate the viability of a local bill to give the council more legislative flexibility in similar situations.
Fundraising from private donors will be explored and council officials have been asked to prioritise the management of project costs over heritage restoration.
Councillor Rebecca Matthews said the council was stuck between a rock and an old place.
“Where there is tension between heritage and the future, I consider myself very clearly on team future.”
Council officials have advised against other options like stopping the project and mothballing the building. Photo / Mark Mitchell
But Cr Tim Brown called them “virtue signalling amendments” and councillor John Apanowicz said they were a “mishmash” of ideas.
Structural engineer John Cuthbert, speaking in his personal capacity ahead of the vote, called for a strong independent review of the situation.
Cuthbert acknowledged he was not close to the project but said the papers in front of councillors suggested a high degree of project mismanagement.
“I do not envy your position.”
The council has already received a technical review of the project as well as a legal review of the contract implementation.
Cr Diane Calvert unsuccessfully tried to get the council to commission an independent review into the project’s governance.
Today’s decision means alternative options for the Town Hall, such as stopping the project and mothballing the building, have been taken off the table.
Council officials have previously warned leaving the building in its current state would incur $204m of significant sunk costs with nothing to show for it.
They have said demolishing it is unrealistic because of its heritage listing and consenting constraints. In the unlikely event a resource consent was granted, demolition would still cost $40m.
Before the meeting, Matthews said on X, formerly Twitter, that she felt despondent.
“Such limited options to spending all this money on a building that would never be built today when there are so many other more important things to do. Please find me a way back machine to avoid this shit show.”
Council officials said there is no need to consult on their recommended option of pushing ahead with the strengthening, as the project has previously been consulted on.
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
