Construction of Bulls Community Centre set to begin

An artist's impression of the new Bulls Community Centre, which will be built in Criterion St. Photo / Supplied

Construction of the new Bulls Community Centre will begin next week.

Whanganui's W&W Construction has been confirmed as the contractor with the project expected to take about a year to complete.

The centre will house a new town hall, library and information centre, town square, carpark and bus interchange.

Rangitikei mayor Andy Watson said it had been a long three years to get to this point and the facility was likely to become an icon of Bulls and the Rangitikei and set the bar high for other town developments in the district.

The community centre was first signed off by council in 2015 but put out to a second round of public consultation in 2017 before council voted to proceed a second time.

Just what ratepayers will pay for the project they are underwriting is not yet known as fundraising efforts for what is likely to be a $6 million bill continue.

The Criterion Hotel in Bulls was demolished to make way for the new Bulls Community Centre.

More than $1m has been raised from various grants and community fundraising and council was hoping to get some support from the Government's provincial growth fund.

The RDC is in a joint-venture partnership with DT Holdings which will be developing the rest of the site.