Library rebuild bill to rise
Rebuilding a popular Christchurch library is likely to surpass the $24.9 million it was previously expected to cost.
But the new estimated price to rebuild South Library, on Colombo St, will not be known until July.
There was much confusion and claims of misunderstandings swirling around the Christchurch City Council chamber yesterday as councillors, led by Tim Scandrett, demanded assurances from staff that at least ‘‘a like-for-like, fitfor-purpose’’ rebuild goes ahead.
Councillors and community board members said last month they feared the library was at risk of being rebuilt as a ‘‘substandard facility’’ that would fail to meet the needs of its community.
They had been told staff were designing the facility to a lower $22.4m budget rather than the $24.9m, which was stated as the cost to rebuild the library in a 2022 report.
That report said it was cheaper to demolish and rebuild than to repair – $26.6m to repair versus $24.9 to rebuild.
Council citizens and community general manager Mary Richardson and vertical capital delivery head Darren Moses attempted to give councillors the assurances they sought.
The pair said the scope and construction budget had not changed. They said the facility was being designed to be at least like for like and fit for purpose. They said all services that were in the library and service centre now would be in the new building.
The library, which was built in 2003, did not perform well in the 2011 earthquakes. Temporary strengthening work was done in 2012, but the building still sits at 34% of the new building standard. If it fell below that it would have to close immediately.
The council has $22.4m available for the rebuild, including $13.4m from its own budget and another $9m was earmarked thanks to a $30.6m government grant, given to the city as part of the Three Waters reform.
This left a $2.5m hole, based on the $24.9m cost highlighted last year.
But Richardson told councillors those 2022 figures were ballpark numbers to indicate the magnitude of the situation. Some things were over-costed and other things were left out.
Staff were now working on a concept design and costs for a new library, which were expected to come back to the council in July. Staff were also redoing the costings to repair the facility, so councillors could compare the two figures.
Some councillors were concerned the report was coming back after the 2023-24 budget was confirmed in June.
Richardson said the council had enough money on budget to progress the project design this coming year.
The decision for more funding would form part of the council’s 10-year budget, the long-term plan, which would be confirmed next year.
In a report on the issue, she said it was likely that a budget of $24.9m would not be sufficient.
Scandrett said in almost 10 years of being a councillor, this was the most confusing spot he had been in. He said the community believed there had been a cut in the budget and scope.
Councillor Sara Templeton said councillors had never seen the project scope, or signed one off, so she found it hard to have confidence that it had not changed.
‘‘I’m still really uncomfortable with this one,’’ she said. ‘‘I have already heard from colleagues that they don’t want to put on additional budget for this project and it does worry me.’’
Last year, South Library was rated as the third-busiest suburban library, behind Fendalton and Shirley, with 4552 weekly visitors.
Of the council’s suburban libraries, it had the highest number of items issued last financial year, with an average of 8918 each week.