Wellington firefighters at a house fire on Roxburgh Street.
Photo: RNZ
The Roxburgh Entertainment Centre will be rebuilt on its existing site.
The Central Otago District Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to proceed with the construction of a new building on the Scotland St site of the former centre which was destroyed in a fire in February last year.
Central Otago District Mayor Tamah Alley told the meeting the council had been made “abundantly aware” of how important the project was to the people of the Teviot Valley.
The council is to receive an insurance payout of $6.4 million to cover the rebuild.
Alley said waiting for confirmation of the final payout had been “one of the biggest challenges” the council had faced on the project.
“[But] now we know. We know the money, we know the location and hopefully that gives clarity for going forward.”
Last week the Teviot Valley Community board passed a resolution to recommend the council proceed with the design and construction of the Roxburgh Entertainment Centre on the existing site as planned.
It was one of three options presented by council staff.
The board also recommended all options for activation of the site were considered as the project progressed and ensured there would be a continuous feedback loop with the project steering group and board as the design progressed.
Council property officer Tara Bates said one submission had been received for an alternative site for the rebuild.
Neighbour of the existing site Anne-Marie Gardiner suggested the council buy 1406sq m of her property to enlarge the existing site.
A hotel built in 1915 took up about 420sq m of the site and could be incorporated into the new building, Gardiner said in her submission.
The extra space would mean there would be space to incorporate a council hub, including the public library, into the entertainment centre complex, she said.
Board chairman Mark Jessop said he understood the building met earthquake standards and had been extensively renovated in the 1990s following a fire and also had a new roof.
Jessop said in general, a bigger site would offer more opportunities for the community, greater variety of use, along with a higher capital cost and potentially higher running costs, depending on whether it was an activated building or not.
Council property and facilitates manager Garreth Robinson said
Buying the extra property and considering shifting the council hub including the library to the new building would be a significant change that would have to be considered in the long-term plan next year, he said.
Jessop said he favoured going ahead on the existing site while investigating creating a stage two for further expansion.
However, he did not think the rest of the board would agree.
Teviot ward councillor Curtis Pannett said he thought that would “muddy the waters” on the project.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.rnz.co.nz ’
