An artists' impression of the Canterbury Multi-Use Arena to be built in the Christchurch CBD, which would have a roof and 25,000-person capacity. Photo / Supplied
An artists' impression of the Canterbury Multi-Use Arena to be built in the Christchurch CBD, which would have a roof and 25,000-person capacity. Photo / Supplied
Christchurch City Council will encourage local companies to tender for work on the city's long-awaited $473 million covered stadium.
Work on the new 25,000-seater rectangular-turf Canterbury Multi-Use Arena is due to start next year – and be completed by 2024.
Concept plans revealed just before Christmas showed a design similarto Dunedin's popular Forsyth Barr Stadium, with a clear, plastic roof and spectators seated close to the action. It will have room for 5000 extra, temporary seats, and additionally will boast a 36,000-capacity for concerts with world-class acoustics.
An artists' impression of the proposed Canterbury Multi-Use Arena in Christchurch, which would replace the earthquake-destroyed Lancaster Park. Image / Supplied
Red and black sports lovers were devastated when the February 2011 killer earthquake ended more than 100 years of sporting history at Lancaster Park – or AMI Stadium as it was when the violent shaking sunk its giant concrete grandstands and saw liquefaction swamp the once-prime turf.
For the past eight years, top-flight rugby and other sports have been accommodated at a "temporary" AMI Stadium, now known as Orangetheory Stadium, in Addington on the old rugby league showgrounds.
The new stadium is earmarked for CBD blocks bounded by Tuam, Hereford, Madras, and Barbadoes streets. Image / Supplied
Meanwhile, the old Lancaster Park site has since been razed and cleared to eventually make way for club sports fields, with the new stadium earmarked for already three cleared CBD blocks bounded by Tuam, Hereford, Madras, and Barbadoes streets.
The Crown and the council have both approved the investment case for the state-of-the-art arena – with the Government earmarking a $220m contribution.
Mary Richardson, the city council's general manager citizens and community, said they are awaiting some reports, including on the Crown Funding Agreement, but no dates have yet been confirmed.
Concept plans show a design similar to Dunedin's popular Forsyth Barr Stadium with a clear, plastic roof and spectators seated close to the action. Image / Supplied
However she confirmed to the Herald this week, that they hope local businesses will be in the running for the big contracts.
"We will be encouraging local companies to tender for the project," Richardson said. "But given the fact that it is public money we will need to use a transparent procurement process."
Several big post-quake rebuild contracts were awarded to offshore companies, creating resentment in some quarters that local companies, and Cantabrian workers, were missing out on the financial rewards of rebuilding New Zealand's second biggest city.
The need for a new stadium has been much talked about in Christchurch since the 2011 earthquakes. Image / Supplied
Former Christchurch mayor Sir Bob Parker hopes domestic firms and workers can pick up the lucrative stadium construction contracts.
"All of the required skill sets exist in the city and the wider province," Parker said.
"Local business must come first especially at this time. We saw the economic boost that local companies received from their part in the post-quake rebuild. Add in the coronavirus recession that is speeding toward the city, indeed potentially the whole country, then the choice is very clear. City dollars should be invested in the city economy."
Parker said it's not just about getting best price, but helping sustain Cantabs through "potentially the most stressful economic crisis our community has faced since the first months following the quakes" of 2011.
During the Covid-19 national lockdown period, Christchurch City Council indicated its willingness to get things moving again.
In April, it submitted more than $818m worth of projects, including the new stadium which is the last of the city's rebuild anchor projects to get underway, to the Government taskforce seeking "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects that could quickly stimulate the economy and create jobs.
Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce says it's been working with both central and local government to get local businesses involved in the procurement process of big jobs.
"It's in their best interests and there is certainly an opportunity post-Covid to look very much inwardly and make sure we are supporting local," says chief executive Leeann Watson.
She added that the right expertise is available in Canterbury, and businesses have capacity to the job, with many "crying out for more work".
Joanna Norris, chief executive of ChristchurchNZ, says while they support organisations to procure goods and services from local companies where possible, there is also "benefit in attracting businesses and therefore jobs" into the region, particularly if the expertise is not available locally.
