Wellington's central library should be repaired not rebuilt, staff to tell councillors

Friday, 16 October 2020

A $179 million upgrade is planned for Wellington’s earthquake-prone central library, with a targeted opening date of May 2025.

The earthquake-prone central library should be properly strengthened, not demolished and rebuilt, Wellington City Council staff are recommending after revised estimates suggest there a negligible difference between the costs of the two options.

This recommendation comes despite surveys finding the public favoured the demolition and rebuild option over repairing the library, which was closed in March last year after being declared an earthquake risk.

“While most people favoured demolition, this was by a small margin and heavily influenced by cost,” said city councillor Fleur Fitzsimons, who holds the council’s libraries portfolio. She backed the council staff’s call to push on with a “high level” upgrade, despite previously supporting a cheaper strengthening option.

The recommendation was presented to councillors this week and will be debated at a council meeting at the end of this month.

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The council received 1456 written submissions on its five proposed options for the library – three strengthening proposals at different cost levels, and two new build proposals.

Public feedback results showed 42 per cent in favour of Option D, building a new library on the existing site, while 31 percent wanted Option C, a high-level upgrade. Support for the other three options – cheaper upgrades, and a new building on a new site – was in the single digits.

The upgrade would convert the earthquake-stricken library into a modern, 21st-century library.

People who favoured a new building said the heritage of the 1991 Sir Ian Athfield building could be acknowledged by retaining features like the Nikau Palms.

The council also surveyed another 1000 people randomly selected through an external research agency, which returned a much closer result: 36 per cent supported a rebuild on the same site, and 33 per cent favoured the recommended strengthening option.

Wellington City Council recommended a $200 million high-level strengthening of the library in July. (Video first published October 2020).

But the cost difference between the two recommended options had narrowed to almost nothing since they were first proposed.

The Option C “high-level” upgrade that had been estimated at $200 million – and had been backed by the council’s professional staff – has come down to $179m as a result further design and engineering work completed in recent months.

Meanwhile, the inclusion of base isolators in the two new build options – either on the existing site or on a new site – has increased the estimated cost of starting again from scratch by about $19m, to $180m.

The upgrade would involve installing base isolators and additional structural supports, as well as stiffening the walls and adding bracing to cushion the impact from an earthquake.

It would also improve connections to Te Ngākau Civic Square and Harris St, provide new and enhanced building services, and create shared spaces for community and civic activities. The floor plate would be raised by abut 60 centimetres to protect against sea level rise.

The library has been closed since it was declared earthquake-prone in March last year. (File photo)

The extra design work meant there was more certainty around the costs, while the projected lifespan of the upgraded building had also increased, the council staff said in their report.

Council officers noted the margin between the two most-favoured options was small, and demolishing the existing building would also be harmful to the environment.

That has led them to again recommend the high-level upgrade, citing the lower and more reliable cost estimate since the option was first proposed in July.

The changes in cost estimates were enough to convince Fitzsimons to change her mind.

“I originally supported a quick repair job but I have been convinced that we should do it once and do it right,” she said.

“Option C [the high-level upgrade] will restore this iconic building back to being a warm and safe place for people to read, relax and simply be. This option also provides protection from flooding, which is already a major issue on this site.”

Mayor Andy Foster, who did not say whether he supported the council’s recommendation for a “high level” upgrade, said that the overall message from the consultation process was for the council to “get it right, rather than open it quickly”.

“As a council, we’ve seen the impact of doing partial jobs in terms of strengthening,” he said.

People’s top priorities were safety, future-proofing, cost, and flexibility, while the lowest priorities were heritage and speed of delivery, Foster said.

The proposal will be put to a council vote on October 28, much sooner than council staff had originally planned.

“We have pushed hard to speed up the process, both in getting [the proposal] on the table, but also in doing some work around engineering and architectural assessment,” Foster said.