Drawings of new hub unveiled

This is what the exterior of the Rotorua Library and Child Health Hub will look like. Photo / Supplied

The first conceptual drawings of a new children's health centre have been unveiled, but where the library will go during construction has not yet been decided.

At the Rotorua Lakes Council's strategy, policy and finance committee meeting yesterday concept drawings of what the multimillion-dollar development could look like were revealed.

The development will be a New Zealand first, with Lakes District Health Board's children's services under the same roof as the library.

The building is set to be retro-fitted, with the top storey proposed to be expanded to the full width of the building.

A timeline for the development shows the library moving from the building in April next year, but no decision has yet been made if the library will be relocated to temporary premises for 18 months or if it will operate around the construction, as it did during a redevelopment in 2008.

The new Rotorua Library and Child Health Hub is expected to open in November 2017.

The library floor space is being reduced from 4400sq m to 3146sq m, but the council's strategy and partnerships group manager Jean-Paul Gaston said there would be 1203sq m of shared space on top of that.

He said 4400sq m was not a realistic view of the space available, as the top floor was where Destination Rotorua Marketing operates and where there were other meeting rooms "used sporadically".

"One of our issues with the library building is the top floor, which is smaller than the floors below. That space is where Destination Rotorua Marketing operates and we've had longstanding leak issues," he said.

"One of the alterations proposed is to fully roof across the top of the library building to get the full width."

He said there would also be a reduction in library shelving from 507 to 464 but that did not mean a reduction in items available. While the building and surrounding areas would be "child friendly," councillors asked that older members of the community were included in consultation.

The positive ageing committee and the Friends of Rotorua Library have been involved in consultation, as have iwi.

Health board chief executive Ron Dunham said the centre would address "fragmented" child services.

He said there were "12 to 14 teams dispersed across the city and all through the hospital".

The next stage is to get preliminary designs and costings.

The centre is expected to cost around $11 million, with the Ministry of Health allocating $6 million and the council $5-6 million.

Timeline

August 2015: Concept design
October/November 2015: Preliminary design
December to February 2016: Developed design
March to April 2016: Detailed design
April to May 2016: Library moves
May to June 2016: Construction tender
July 2016: Works start
October 2017: Work completion
TBC 2017: Library and DHB settlement
November 2017: Grand opening