Nelson council to upgrade and reopen Trafalgar Centre
Nelson City Council has voted unanimously to proceed with strengthening works to reopen the Trafalgar Centre.
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Hawke’s Bay
Nelson City Council has voted unanimously to proceed with strengthening works to reopen the Trafalgar Centre.
Councillors have accepted a recommendation from project manager, Richard Kirby, to strengthen and upgrade the centre at a projected cost of $13 million. The recommendation was based on the advice from engineering firm, ARUP, commissioned by the council to carry out additional site-specific seismic testing on the stability of the ground and the building, supplementing the initial research conducted by Tonkin & Taylor. Nelson mayor Rachel Reese says she is pleased Nelson ratepayers now have some surety on the future of the Trafalgar Centre.
“This has been an extremely challenging process, one which has given many of us on the council sleepless nights as we have wrestled with how best to solve this problem.
“Based on the figures that were originally presented in the previous term of council, we were concerned that earthquake strengthening the Trafalgar Centre was going to place too heavy a burden on the ratepayers.
“However we have now found a cost-effective solution that allows us to upgrade the Trafalgar Centre, and align it with the new Rutherford Park development which we are confident will be a real drawcard for our city. Project manager Richard Kirby says the decision gives Nelson the chance to have a fully functional, strengthened building which should last for at least the next 50 years.
“The total cost of all the work is expected to cost just under $13 million ($12.956 million), which is significantly less than some of the earlier estimates.
“The cost of entirely demolishing and rebuilding would be $25-30 million, whereas this option allows the council to create a fabulous entertainment and sports complex which we believe will perform adequately during moderate earthquake events,” he says.
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Chris Hutching
Fri, 31 Jul 2015
Fri, 31 Jul 2015
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Nelson council to upgrade and reopen Trafalgar Centre
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