Completion of Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery redevelopment delayed three months

Plastering is taking longer than expected in the original Sarjeant Gallery.

Completion of Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery redevelopment has been pushed back by three months and the total cost is expected to increase by around $600,000.

Construction is now scheduled to be finished by the end of June.

Project director Gaye Batty said the black granite facade on the new Te Pātaka o Sir Te Atawhai Archie John Taiaroa wing and solid plastering in the original gallery required finding sufficient labour, which was “proving to be quite challenging”.

“It’s skilled work, and the subcontractor is taking steps to bring in labour from as far afield as the South Island,” she said.

“There’s a flow-on effect to the project timeline, and as such, we’ve revised our construction completion.”

The forecast mid-range cost is now $69.27 million, up from $68.61m.

At the top of the scale, the “highest-risk” cost scenario is $71,922,000.

Speaking at a meeting of Whanganui District Council’s operations and performance committee, Batty said time extensions on the project remained the biggest concern, along with “the fiddly works” within the heritage building.

The extent of the work needed could only be truly known as it progressed, she said.

“You tap off a piece of plaster and find that more and deeper works are needed.

“We have trade cost increases - these are justifiable within the [original] contract. They include plaster, in particular, carpentry and our roofing trades.”

Councillor Rob Vinsen said last time Batty appeared before the committee, she assured members construction would be finished in March.

He said if contractors had pushed the date back, “surely they would be penalised” for not completing the works in time.

Batty said the March date was the best estimate that could be made at the time through a full team review with contractors.

“Since then, the matter that’s really slipped is the extent of the solid plastering.

“It is taking longer and the subcontractor is not able to get sufficient skilled resources to keep up with the programme that he had indicated.”

Any time, extensions were carefully reviewed and contractors needed to justify that cost increases weren’t of their making, she said.

Vinsen said he thought committee members would be able to keep track of the ratepayer contribution to the project but there was no mention of that in the latest report.

Council property manager Sarah O’Hagan said that information had appeared in previous reports but it had “dropped off”.

“I can update you that 77 per cent is externally funded,” she said.

Last October, the Chronicle reported that ratepayers would provide around $15.8m towards the project, with the rest coming from Government grants and funding, the Sarjeant Gallery Trust, community grants and donations.

Batty said seismic strengthening of the original building was now complete, but the preferred cafe operator in the new wing had withdrawn their interest.

“An alternative arrangement for the cafe operation is being developed.

“We are working on the cafe design and fit-out ourselves.”

Retail consultants First Retail were on-board and working alongside the architect and designers, she said.

“Potentially, an operator can just walk in and operate.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multi-media journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present, his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.