A concept image of the first stage of Emerson St redevelopment, looking from the "zip" between Clive and Memorial squares. Photo / Napier City Council
A concept image of the first stage of Emerson St redevelopment, looking from the "zip" between Clive and Memorial squares. Photo / Napier City Council
The first stage of Napier’s new Emerson St redevelopment will start next month.
It will take place in four stages, starting at Clive Square, with excavation of all four sectors undertaken as the Napier City Council replaces infrastructure and modernises its CBD assets over the next few years.
The orderin which the other phases will take place is not yet determined, but similar work will follow in the sector from the square to Dalton St, and the Dalton St-Hastings St and Hastings St-Marine Parade sectors.
The first phase will start in Clive Square East, from Emerson St to Dickens St, on January 5, and include establishment of a construction compound using the inter-city bus depot, with buses using alternative space during the work.
It will then move to Clive Square West, and the “zip”, between Clive Square and Memorial Square, and then Clive Square East between Emerson and Tennyson streets.
Phase 1, costing about $6 million and loan financed, is expected to be completed by next November, but the council says there will be access to businesses at all times.
New Napier deputy mayor Sally Crown (left) and council strategic projects leader Phillipa Tocker, and an image of the future of the Clive and Memorial squares "zip" looking east up Emerson St. Photo / Doug Laing.
Design aims to provide a space to bring people together for events, with a laneway that can be closed-off when necessary.
During a site visit, deputy mayor Sally Crown said decisions are yet to be made on the remaining phases, bearing in mind the need to not overburden ratepayers.
There is also a need to bring almost half the council “up to speed” with the proposals, with five of the 11 councillors new to the table since the October elections.
She said the work will include replacement of wastewater pipes, made of clay and more than 90 years old, and no longer fit for purpose.
The excavation will be similar to that of Emerson St in the early 1990s, when it was transformed from a traffic thoroughfare, with deep kerbs and parking on neither side of the street, into a shopping precinct with one-way, low-speed traffic.
It follows about two years of consultation, including aspects of overnight security after ram raids and smash-and-grab burglaries in the area.
Doug Laing is a Hawke’s Bay Today reporter based in Napier, with more than 40 years’ reporting in the region, in a journalism career of more than 50 years.
