Gore ceo: No budget blow out for new council building

Wednesday, 29 July 2020

Signal Management Group director Shokit Ali, left, and Gore District Council chief executive Stephen Parry inside the council's new civic administration building.

No bidets, no bar and no budget blow out.

The Gore District Council’s $6m refurbishment of its Civic Administration building, which has been on the council’s wish list for the last 10 years, is on target to open in December.

The council’s old building has been gutted and redesigned but the project hasn’t been without its controversies.

Last year two councillors voted against the building upgrade, and the budget increased from $5m to 6m.

But council chief executive Stephen Parry said rumours of million-dollar budget blowouts, and extravagances including a staff bar and $4000 bidets in the fit out of the building, were untrue.

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“I don’t know where that stuff comes from – possibly because it’s a council building that is high profile, or maybe people have had their own renovation budget blow-outs and think we’re going to do the same thing,’’ he said.

The council was building a fit-for-purpose, future-proofed office building, and the budget was on target.

The staff toilets would be unisex, which had been ‘’slightly controversial,’’ he said.

Builders prepare to attach cladding to the Gore District Council's new Civic Administration Building, which is scheduled to open in December.

“From my perspective it's going really well. There’s been a little bit of a scheduling issue because of Covid-19, but the project is very fluid and dynamic. We are on target for staff to move in here in December.’’

The project is being managed by Signal Management Group, whose role was to ‘’look after the client and the contractors,’’ director Shokit Ali said

The council’s old building had thrown a few surprises at the demolition team.

“There have been some unforseen things that have occurred but that is to be expected on a project like this, it is why you have a contingency, and they have been managed inside the budget.’’

The ceiling in the council chamber and another on the top floor of the building were below building code strength and required strengthening, but the project had under-spent on asbestos removal, so the new strengthening didn’t impact on the budget.

Some small aspects of the old building would remain, including a heating unit in the council chamber and the building’s switchboard, which would be upgraded.

“There is nothing wrong with the heating unit and it would cost a fortune to replace, so why do that?’’ he said.

“The advantages of building on the same footprint of the old building, instead of moving elsewhere, were really beneficial. There was too much value in this building. The foundations and the services to the building were already here, so that has probably saved $2m.’’

The council had investigated other buildings in Gore to site new offices, including the H&J Smith building, but ‘’the numbers were too high,’’ he said.

Parts of the old building were earthquake prone but the new building met 100 percent of seismic requirements, Ali said.

About 20 contractors, many of whom were local, were onsite at the moment and numbers would increase when the interior fit out began.

“They are all doing a great job, I have been really impressed with them,’’ Ali said.

The building would include meeting rooms, offices, training rooms, reception areas and open-plan office areas.

Staff are expected to move in at the end of the year, and the focus would then turn to the James Cumming Wing next door.

Last week the council received $3m in funding towards the town’s new library from the Government.