SkyCity fire won't threaten pokies deal, says boss
Wednesday, 23 October 2019
SkyCity chief executive Graeme Stephens says the extra machines installed in return for its investment in the New Zealand International Convention Centre are already in place and not put in jeopardy by the Auckland fire.
The 2013 deal that led to the convention centre being built gave the casino 230 extra poker machines, and extended its exclusive license until 2048. The Government granted the licence in return for the promised investment in the centre.
Stephens said the extra gambling capacity was installed and operating, but he did not believe fresh delays to the opening of the convention centre threatened that.
The 2013 deal required Sky City to get the convention centre open and operating during 2023 at the latest, Stephens said.
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The SkyCity fire which started at 1.10pm on Tuesday was into its third day, after burning through Wednesday night. However, on Thursday the inferno was finally under control and firefighters planned to move into mop-up operations.
There were hopes the fire would be put out on Wednesday evening, but flames appeared again early on Thursday.
The SkyCity complex will remain closed on Thursday.
The fire is the second globally significant blaze chief executive Graeme Stephens has witnessed in his career.
The first was at the Atlantis, The Palm hotel in Dubai in 2008 when he was working for international gaming group Kerzner International, where he was senior vice president for new business development.
There is speculation, yet to be confirmed, that the fire at the Auckland convention centre was started by a blowtorch being used to seal joins in waterproof roofing membranes.
The fire in Dubai was traced back to blowtorches being used by workers in the lobby of the US$1.5 billion (NZ$2.3 billion) Atlantis, Stephens said.
As with the fire in Auckland, the blaze in Dubai had not cost any lives.
'There were no casualties,' Stephens said.
In Dubai, residents of nearby buildings were woken to fire sirens at 7am, and opened their curtains to see billows of smoke rising hundreds of feet into the air.
The hotel on site had over 1500 rooms and all guests were evacuated safely.
Stephens, who said he did not sleep long last night, said he had not been in charge of the operations managing the Dubai fire.
While the fire at Atlantis did not hold back the completion date of building work, it is not known how bad the damage at the Auckland convention centre is, and when it will open.
That included whether the convention centre would be open for the 2021 meeting of Apec ministers in Auckland.
The extent of the damage was not yet known, and Fletcher Building chief executive Ross Taylor would not discuss speculation about how the fire started.
'Speculation can take you in the wrong direction,' he said.
'We are hopeful the fire is under control later today.'
Then, once the site was safe to enter, an assessment of the damage, and the work needed to rebuild, would begin.
'A lot of structural components will be damaged,' he said.
This could include heat-damaged steel.
Taylor would not say whether Fletchers would face financial penalties for the late delivery of the project. Fletchers was financially very strong, he said.
There was great disappointment at both Fletchers and Sky City, Taylor and Stephens said.
'Only yesterday you could see the momentum we had on the site,' Taylor said.
'There's a lot of emotion around and very understandably from my perspective.'
But, he said: 'We are resolute. We will get this project finished.
Stephens echoed the sentiment at a press conference in downtown Auckland several blocks from the blaze.
The effort was now 'to get the phoenix out of the ashes', Stephens said.
The financial impact on both companies would not be known for some time.
Stephens said it was 'virtually impossible' to understand the economic impact of the damage yet.
'This would be the first time in the company's history that everything was shut,' he said.
'We have insurance policies and they would expend to the project itself,' he said.