Contract talks under way for Hemo roundabout sculpture

An artist's impression of the sculpture planned for the Hemo Rd roundabout. Photo/File

A contract to build a half million dollar sculpture on top of the Hemo Rd roundabout is almost set to be signed off.

According to the agenda for the Rotorua Lakes Council's Operations and Monitoring Committee meeting, which was held yesterday, there were three tenders received for the sculpture and the council has selected a preferred contractor for its construction.

The sculpture will be part of an $8 million roading project being run by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to build a new roundabout at the intersection of Hemo Rd and Old Taupo Rd.

Work continues on the new roundabout. Photo/File

The 12m-high sculpture, inspired by the story of Te Arawa chief Ngatoroirangi who was responsible for the safe passage of people to New Zealand, will sit in the middle of the roundabout and has been designed by an artist at New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute (Te Puia).

The sculpture will sit on a 1.8m-tall plinth scripted with the narrative of the story of Ngatoroirangi, visible from the underpass, being incorporated into the roundabout design.

NZTA will stump up $200,000, the council $150,000 and Te Puia $50,000, leaving another $100,000 to be sought from various community and arts trusts, or private individuals who would like to contribute.

The council's strategy and partnerships group manager Jean-Paul Gaston said the council was still in discussions with the preferred contractor and won't be announcing who it is until the contract had been officially awarded.

"However, we're pleased with how the discussions are progressing...there's been no change to the budget for this project.

"We would like the sculpture to go up at the same time as the roundabout work is finished although we don't yet know if that will happen - the timeline is yet to be finalised," Mr Gaston said.