Work to reopen Centennial Gardens in Napier tops $300,000

Centennial Gardens gardener Paulette Martin working at the newly reopened garden. Photo / Warren Buckland

The extensive repairs that allowed Centennial Gardens and its signature waterfall to reopen to the public cost Napier City Council $323,000.

The investigation into what work needed to be done started in 2018 and repair work started in June 2019.

The gardens were closed off to the public in June 2019, after an investigation into what work needed to be done to the garden. The man-made waterfall was also out of action during that time.

Repairs were done to the pond, pipework, bridge and signage and the garden, including the waterfall, reopened on Christmas Eve.

Not including signage, the total cost of the repairs to date is $322,951, Debra Stewart NCC Team Leader for Parks, Reserves and Sportsgrounds said.

The upper and lower ponds were lined with concrete and a water proofing membrane. The membrane lining cost $125,852 and the concrete cost $55,864.

The ponds pipework and water supply operations were improved at a cost of $25,224 for the new main water connection and $21,087 for directional drilling of the new pipe.

The supports and foundations of the pedestrian bridge were renewed which cost $35,178.

A further $40,395, was spent on the cost of management/design and $7593 was spent on design consultants.

New signage is set to be installed next month.

"The extent of the work which needed to be done was unknown at the start of the project and added to the overall cost, such as replacing the support structure for the bridge," Stewart said.

This did not qualify for an exemption under the 2004 Building Act.