Estimate puts council building repair at $3m

Waipā District Council Museums and Heritage director Anne Blyth (foregorund) and some of her team settled into a temporary office in Rickit Road. Photo / Dean Taylor

Initial estimates suggest the empty council building in Te Awamutu could potentially cost around $3 million to bring up to the earthquake standard.

Council staff were evacuated from the building in Roche St last October following an independent seismic assessment. It found the building, which also houses the Te Awamutu Museum, was at 20 per cent of the National Building Standard and vulnerable in the event of an earthquake.

Specialists have now confirmed the building could cost around $3m to fix but stress that estimate is based on a lower level of detail than the final drawings and specifications would demand. At some point, a more detailed cost estimate would be needed.

Waipā District Council chief executive Garry Dyet said the $3m estimate was “detailed enough for now” given council will not be rushing to fix the building. Instead, a complete review has been launched to see what office space might be needed to house staff in the future.

“Local government is in a state of flux with potentially major changes on the horizon. The impact of water and local government reform, and the ability for people to more effectively work from home or hot desk will fundamentally change how much office space we’ll even need,” Garry said.

“We won’t be rushing into fixing the building until we determine what space is needed and that will take some time to work through. In the meantime, this broad estimate gives us a handle on what we’re looking at so we can factor the cost of fixing it into our modelling.”

Garry confirmed council had already anticipated a major drop in the value of the building and reflected that as an impairment in the 2021/22 Annual Report. At this stage, no money has been budgeted for repair costs.

In January, staff moved into a building in Te Awamutu’s Rickit Rd, leased by council for 18 months.