Wellington’s central library opening costs climb with pre-party party
Tuesday, 26 May 2026
The price tag to celebrate Wellington’s refurbished central library has turned out to be even grander than previously indicated, with tens of thousands of dollars quietly spent on a blessing ceremony months before the official opening weekend party.
More than $400,000 had initially budgeted for the two-day opening weekend event on March 14-15. However after concerns were raised about the extravagance of the event ‒ by mayor Andrew Little‒the original plans were scaled back significantly, reducing the cost to $178,078.48.
But The Post can now reveal that in addition to that ratepayers also forked out $66,391.27 for a tohi tāngaengae or blessing ceremony held a month before Little was elected mayor.
Asked whether he knew about the money spent on the dawn re-dedication ceremony, Little said he didn’t but noted that it was planned and occurred under a previous council.
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“Since becoming Mayor I've made clear my expectation that events are managed with appropriate restraint that reflects the council’s current financial state and the public’s expectations about careful cost control to keep rates rises as low as possible.'
The September 13 event for the $217.6 million rebuild was led by mana whenua tōhunga (tikanga experts), and followed by a tour of the site and rawa (artworks) for about 200 guests and stakeholders.
A breakdown of expenses shows the bulk ‒$37,300‒was paid by the council in “professional fees” carried out over six weeks before the event. That included cultural and tikanga advice, co-ordination with multiple parties including iwi, artists and artists’ families, the design and execution of the ceremony and guided tours, and delivery of the event.
The bill for the actual ceremony totalled $15,130.27, with $7,942.84 of that spent on catering, and $2,898.75 paid to site crew and a sound technician. A further $2889.40 was listed as payment for mana whenua artists/speakers attendees while $521.48 was spent on “miscellaneous” items. Those were listed as flowers and “doorstops”.
In addition another $13,961 went towards producing a dedicated website, which was launched on the day of the blessing, to “provide the public with their first peek inside Te Matapihi, including images of the rawa and artists, as well as information about the design partnership and te taiao inspiration.” This is separate to the council’s own libraries website.
Details of the spend were outlined in a response to an official information request that was lodged by The Post two months ago. It was uploaded to the Council’s website late on Friday afternoon, along with previously released information about the cost of March’s opening activities‒original plans included a street festival and food trucks‒and further explanation of the events that led up to the decision to re-scope it.
One email outlines the two cheaper options the council’s creative capital team proposed, both of which were touted as having to “dampen demand and deflect any sense that people should make an effort to visit this particular weekend”.
“Under both options we are still at risk of a worst-case scenario, where large numbers of people turn up and we no longer have an external street festival etc to provide a good experience.
“We do not want people making a special trip into Wellington, to be underwhelmed, annoyed by long queuing and wishing they hadn’t made an effort,” wrote Creative Capital manager Gisella Carr.
One suggestion as to mitigating any disappointment was to “consider putting out a press statement that festivities [were] being curtailed due to the Moa Point issue, or something equivalent.”
Ultimately, the $178,000-plus weekend attracted upwards of 11,500 people, eager to explore the redesigned library after its six-year closure.