Final cost of Ashburton’s library and civic centre revealed

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

Ashburton’s new library and civic centre cost $62.1 million to build.

Te Whare Whakatere opened to the public in January, and this week the Ashburton District Council announced the final construction cost, two weeks after holding an official opening ceremony.

Ashburton mayor Neil Brown said the final tally included construction costs, specialist advice, and project management and was reduced by building delay penalties in the construction contract.

“We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with builders Naylor Love and other partners we’ve worked with,” he said.

“It was a difficult time to build during and post-Covid and we said last year we expected an overrun of about 10% over the budgeted $56.7m, and it’s come in at 9.5% over.

“We’re disappointed it has cost more than the original budget, but grateful for the $20m shovel-ready project grant from the Government which offsets the ratepayer contribution.”

The original library and civic centre project budget, set after public consultation in 2019, was $51.6m.

Construction began in January 2021 and an additional $5m contingency was added due to the uncertainties around the impacts of Covid.

Originally slated for completion by the end of 2022, the build was besieged by delays, driven by the impacts of the Covid pandemic and extreme weather events.

That meant it opened in January this year, just over 12 months later than planned.

The delays coupled with inflationary pressures pushed the final cost out to $62.1m.

With the $20m of Government shovel-ready funding, it reduces the final cost to ratepayers $42.1m.

Then taking off the proceeds of building sales will further reduce the cost.

The old public library sold for $1.1 million in May, two relocatable buildings were sold for $160,000, and the sale of the old council administration building by the end of this year will likely drop the cost below $40m.

The balance of the cost will be met by debt.

As Brown stated last year when announcing the budget overrun, “the ratepayer will be paying no more than what we consulted on when we started the project”.