Whakatane council building to undergo earthquake strengthening

Whakatane District Council Civic Centre. Photo/Google Maps

The Whakatane District Council Civic Centre will undergo earthquake strengthening work in 2018, costing about $3 million.

Whakatane District Council said the engineering work involved would take the building from a detailed seismic assessment rating of 37 per cent to 100 per cent of the strength of a new building.

This was based on New Zealand Building Code's importance level classification for structures used for emergency response purposes.

The council's projects and services committee considered a range of options for the building at its meeting last week, with total potential project costs ranging from $2.4 million, to achieve a lesser level of seismic strength, to between $14.5 and 19 million for a new building with ground improvement and specialised foundations.

$2.1 million had been set aside for the work and elected members adopted a recommendation that a further $900,000 be added to the 2018/19 budget to cover the additional cost required.

Community Services general manager Mike Naude said the planned strengthening would address the life safety risk represented by a major earthquake with a 2500-year return period.

Work on the building is likely to begin in the second quarter of 2018.

Naude outlined the seismic assessment processes under way on other council-owned buildings and priority public access routes. Five other buildings were under review to determine what earthquake strengthening may be required.

They were the Whakatane Airport terminal, the Youth Centre building in Canning Pl, the Rugby Park grandstand, the Whakatane War Memorial Hall, and the Edgecumbe War Memorial Hall.

The Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Act 2016 also required council to assess the threat that falling masonry or collapsing structures might represent to the public, or emergency response activities, on 'transport routes of strategic importance'.

Naude said work was under way, but it was unlikely that any routes would meet the definition set out in the Building Act.

The Civil Defence and Emergency Management Act requires the council to identify an alternate Emergency Operations Centre, should that be needed, and staff are investigating alternative locations.