NEWS RELEASE

23 November 2009

Indoor sports centre: cheaper contract signed

Construction of Wellington’s Indoor Community Sport Centre (ICSC) is set to start early next month – with more than $4 million cut from the building budget.

Wellington City Council has awarded the main contract to build the centre to Mainzeal Property and Construction Ltd.

Mayor Kerry Prendergast is expected to turn the first sod at the ICSC site on Cobham Drive on Monday 7 December.

Mayor Prendergast says she is very happy to report that the Council has made significant savings on the contract. In the report by Sir John Anderson, commissioned earlier this year, consultants Mallard Cooke estimated that building costs on the Cobham Drive site would be $40.45 million. However the Mainzeal tender is for $36.24 million - a saving of $4.21 million.

This saving can be attributed to a major value-engineering initiative by the Council's Project Management Office staff in the past few months and a more competitive construction market due to current market conditions.

“I’d like to thank the PMO staff and Mainzeal for going the extra mile to keep costs on this project down as far as realistically possible.”

Value-engineering is used by project managers to review initial designs, materials and proposed construction methods to make further budget savings. This initiative and the Mainzeal contract are helping to keep the overall ICSC budget to $46 million.

The overall $46 million cost includes construction, architectural design, project management, landscaping and traffic improvements.

“It is fantastic that we will soon finally be able to see this much-needed centre taking shape,” Mayor Prendergast said.

“Wellington has been waiting for this for a long time. The ICSC, with its 12 courts, will be a huge boost for community sport, a superb facility for the whole city and is something all Wellingtonians can be proud of.”

Construction is expected to take around 18 months to complete.

Three further courts could be added to the ICSC in future if necessary. It has had the overwhelming backing of Wellington’s sports bodies throughout the planning process.

Geoff Henry, of Athletics Wellington, said: “The sports codes have been crying out for something like this for over 10 years. The large indoor space will provide a focal point for the community and a valuable asset, not just for indoor sports but also for schools’ physical education and the health and recreation of the wider community. The sooner it is built the better.”

The Council approved construction of the ICSC at Cobham Park in June 2007 after seven years of investigation and planning. Resource consent was granted in January – with conditions amended by the Environment Court in June – and building consent followed in August.

Two independent reviews, including Sir John Anderson’s, overwhelmingly backed the Cobham Park site.

For further information please contact:

Stephen Matthews, Mayor’s Office, tel 801 3119 or 021 227 8517

Richard MacLean, Council Communications, tel 021 227 8180.