Christchurch's convention centre, metro sports to take on extra Covid costs
The taxpayer is expected to shoulder some extra costs for two major central Christchurch anchor projects that have been affected by Covid-19 . But the magnitude of that bill remains unknown as the Government's Christchurch rebuild company negotiates with the company building both projects. The cost for both the $475 million convention centre, known as Te Pae, and the $301m metro sports facility are set to go up because of the impacts of coronavirus, including lost time while the country was in lockdown. The council is making a capped contribution of $148m to the latter. The projects are being managed by Crown rebuild company Otakaro and built by Australian construction company CPB. READ MORE: * Opening of Christchurch's $475m convention centre Te Pae pushed back * Coronavirus: Lockdown clears workers off sites of major Christchurch recovery projects An Otakaro spokesman said the exact nature and value of additional costs that would fall to Otakaro were still being worked through with the main contractor. This is a complex and unprecedented commercial matter and therefore we expect it to take some time to determine a final cost. The spokesman gave the example of CPB and its subcontractors not being able to access the sites to work during the coronavirus restrictions as a factor which could lead to additional costs. Te Pae was due to open in October but this date has been pushed back into 2021 due to the coronavirus restrictions delaying work. It has lost some conventions due to the opening delay but has rebooked others , with about 70 bookings expected to bring more than $40m to the city. The convention centre will feature a 1400-seat auditorium that can be split into two, up to 3300 square metres of exhibition space, 24 meeting rooms that can hold up to 1500 people, and banquet seating for up to 1800 people. The metro sports facility has been delayed by up to a year due to coronavirus . It is now expected to open at some stage in 2022. The building will cover an area about the size of two rugby fields and will require about 6000sqm of concrete and 3700 tonnes of structural steel, making it one of the largest central Christchurch projects. It will feature a 10-lane, 50-metre pool with 1000 seats for spectators, a 20m by 25m diving pool, five hydroslides and several indoor courts for various sports.