The civic building (on the right) which is due to be knocked down in the coming months. Photo / Paul Taylor
The civic building (on the right) which is due to be knocked down in the coming months. Photo / Paul Taylor
A five-year wait to start the demolition of Napier's vacant civic building is finally over, with Mayor Kirsten Wise saying due diligence is the reason it's taken so long.
But one of Wise's opponents for the mayoralty says the demolition has taken too long to get underway, and has leftcouncil staff "scattered" in multiple offices around the CBD.
Demolition work began this month on the four-storey building, in a precinct bordered by Hastings St and Station St, which has sat vacant since 2017.
It was formerly the headquarters of Napier City Council along with the adjoining library tower - which is connected by a link bridge.
The vacant library tower is not being demolished at this stage and its future remains uncertain despite also being found to be earthquake prone back in 2017.
The civic building is being demolished. Photo / Paul Taylor
Council staff who previously called that civic precinct home are now spread out across four separate buildings and offices dotted around Napier CBD.
Current Napier councillor Nigel Simpson, who is one of two mayoral candidates running against incumbent Mayor Wise at the October local body election, said it had taken too long to begin demolition work.
"Of course it has. Council approved the demolition of the building in 2019 ... why has it taken so long for it to be happening?"
He said the long wait was not good for council staff who were working out of multiple sites, without a main headquarters.
"How efficient and how effective and how cohesive is a corporate staff when they are scattered across multiple buildings?"
Napier councillor and mayoral candidate Nigel Simpson says it has taken too long. Photo / NZME
Simpson said the council did consider a development plan brought to it back in early 2020 for the site, but when that proved unsuccessful, demolition could have begun then.
"When that was recognised as a no-goer it could have been done at that point."
Wise defended the wait time to begin demolition.
"Five years might appear quite a significant period of time but for a project of this size it has been really important that we do all the due diligence in the lead up to the demolition.
"That did include reviewing options as to whether any of the civic precinct should be refurbished, and we have spent the last 12 months doing a master plan in consultation with key stakeholders around what we are actually going to put on that site.
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise has defended the five-year wait. Photo / NZME
"The other factor to consider is we have had three years of significant challenges in other areas.
"We have been dealing with the impacts of the likes of Covid-19 and the flood event and other significant projects - particularly in the water space - and you can't do everything at once."
Napier's third mayoral candidate, John Smith, said he was not across enough details on the project to comment.
The demolition of the civic building is expected to be completed in early 2023 and will cost about $2 million.
Ceres New Zealand is in charge of the demolition works.
The civic building (right) is being demolished and is joined to the library tower (left) by a link bridge. Photo / Supplied
Plans are still being worked through on what will be built on the precinct in the future, but it will include a new library and civic buildings.
Construction of any new buildings is not expected to begin until 2024 at the earliest and $55 million has been set aside for the whole project.
Napier City Council acting director community services Darran Gillies said it was an important site for the city.
"We need to make sure key stakeholders, including the community, are part of the process to decide what to do with the site and this is not something which can be done in a hurry.
"This is a key site in our city and a wonderful opportunity to create a space that meets the needs of all people in Napier including future generations."
