Concept approval a milestone in decade-long timeline of Napier’s civic centre

A computer-generated view of the perspective from the corner of Hastings and Station Streets.

Napier City Council has approved concept designs for its new library and governance facilities and is now moving to get the new civic centre built by 2027.

The green light for further design work on the project, to be known as Te Aka, meaning detailed design can now proceed in the hope that construction of a now-projected $58.2 million rebuild can start within 18 months on the Hastings and Station Streets site of the previous 1960s civic centre, came at a council meeting on Thursday.

The old building and the adjoining Napier Public Library were vacated suddenly at the end of 2017 after an earthquake. The civic building facing Hastings St was demolished between August 2022 and January this year.

The council says the $58.2m includes the cost of the demolition, “governance space”, a new library and associated outdoor landscaping, but does not include “officer accommodation” in the in the old library tower, a separate phase of the reinstatement of the new city hub after what will have been a decade spent in limbo, with staff and operations scattered around several mainly-leased sites.

Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise, who called for a round of applause at the meeting as the council approved moving to the next stage, says getting to that point marks a major milestone for the project.

Of the mayor and 12 councillors, Wise, Deputy Mayor Annette Brosnan, Keith Price, Maxine Boag and Graeme Taylor were on the council at the time the vacation of the building came, forcing council meetings to be held at other sites, mainly the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council offices nearby on Dalton St and the War Memorial Conference Centre on Marine Parade.

The mayoral chamber became an office in Cape View House, on the corner of Marine Parade and Dalton St.

“We’ve now reached an exciting phase where we can get an idea of how the area could look in the future,” said Wise, a councillor since 2013 and mayor since 2019. “I know this will eventually become a very special place for Napier residents. We’re envisaging a community gathering space that all Napier residents can have ownership of and call our own.”

Brosnan, who in 2013 became the youngest person elected to the Napier council in more than 20 years, commented at the meeting on the steps taken to keep the project within range of the $55m stage-one cost originally set in-budget.

She said staff and consultants had done well in keeping the projected cost at $58.2m, within range of the original ballpark figure of $55m, at a time of rising construction costs, when some other centres were talking $100-200 million price-tags for the replacement of civic centres and town halls elsewhere which were also disappearing because of seismic and building code assessments.

“Engagement with the community on the vision before the old building had been demolished was key,” she said. “We then began developing the Library and Civic Area Plan, working closely with mana whenua, friends of the library, neighbours and community groups to ensure the eventual outcome reflects a space everyone will want to be.”

The concept design was developed by Athfield Architects and mana whenua design lead Israel Birch. The cultural narrative is woven through the concept design.

The council stresses the landscape is a “concept design only, and not a detailed design”, and sees it as a uniquely-run project for the council. It says “from the get-go”, many community groups and mana whenua have been involved in the process.

It says it means the outcome will be a “space” for everyone, the design “underpinned by a cultural narrative that describes what is unique about Napier and the stories important to this city and surroundings”.

“As we progress into the more detailed design stages, there will be opportunities to acknowledge our built heritage, such as Art Deco,” council staff said in one online response to questions and concerns about the eventual appearance of the facilities.

The centre will have outdoor space terraced with level changes, which will be used to create seats.

The next step for the project will be further development of the design, which will go through various phases of progress throughout 2024. The community will have the chance to see this before the council adopts the proposed design in early 2025.