TRC awards stand contract

A Christchurch firm has been given the job of demolishing the earthquake-prone East Stand of New Plymouth’s Yarrow Stadium.

Ceres NZ will begin the work in mid-April, and it is expected to be finished by September.

The company ‘‘specialises in complex, large-scale engineering projects including demolition and deconstruction’’, stadium owner the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) said in a statement.

‘‘We’re delighted with the calibre and experience of our contractor,’’ TRC chair David MacLeod was quoted as saying. ‘‘We’re confident in their ability to do an efficient job, keeping impacts beyond the site to an absolute minimum.’’

The council had not disclosed how much the demolition contract was worth, citing commercial confidentiality, but said all contracts were decided on the basis of value and ability.

‘‘Bids were requested from four suppliers who were shortlisted after an open-market process,’’ Mike Nield, TRC director of corporate services, said. ‘‘One of the four subsequently withdrew.’’

Nield said Taranaki firms were among joint-venture partners in the bidding process.

The final decision was made on the basis of technical ability and capacity, experience, methodology, environmental quality assurance, and price.

The council said it had given people living near the stadium details about the demolition, including a temporary 30kmh speed restriction on a section of Maratahu St around the lower entrance gate.

The East and West Stands were built by Fletcher Construction in 2002, at a cost of $17 million, but declared earthquakeprone in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The West Stand is being repaired while the East Stand is to be replaced.

Contracts for the design of the new stand, the refurbishment of the main pitch and the LED lighting upgrade to the main pitch lighting will be awarded in the coming weeks.

The overall cost of the stadium project is $50m, of which $20m is coming from the Government in the form of a ‘‘shovel-ready’’ Covid recovery grant.

The West Stand repairs are expected to be finished in November, with rugby set to return in 2022.