New Zealand: Christchurch indoor stadium to cost $150 million more

28.06.2022 13:35 source: StadiumDB.com; author: Rafał Dadura

The cost of building a fully covered 30,000-seat stadium in the centre of New Zealand's Christchurch is expected to be $683 million, according to new estimates. The venue was initially expected to cost $533 million. This means that the budget will be exceeded by exactly $150 million.

Decision will be made by the city after talks with residents

City mayor Lianne Dalziel said she was "stunned" when she heard the amount. She said reducing the stadium would not be acceptable to the public. If Christchurch City Council decides to build the stadium at the inflated cost, the city's financial contribution to the venue will be as much as $453 million, up $200 million more than originally planned. The New Zealand government will contribute the remaining $230 million.

Te Kaha (Canterbury Multi-Use Arena) © Christchurch City Council

Now, Christchurch residents will be asked for their views on the way forward before councillors meet again in mid-July to make a final decision. If councillors decide to spend the extra money, the opening date for the stadium, long talked about in New Zealand, will again be pushed back to April 2026. Regardless of when the arena will open, we can be sure that it will be a magnificent venue that will at times host unforgettable sporting spectacles. By now, even without the stadium being ready, every sports fan can go to football live scores and stay up to date with every game.

Every change in the project means further delays

Postponing the eventual opening of the stadium is also a problem in itself. Even if the arena is opened in April 2026 (which is by no means certain), it will still be 10 months later than what was assumed just a few weeks ago. If changes were made to the design to reduce costs, the delay would increase by a further eight months.

Aware of the receding deadline, the chairman of the Crusaders rugby team waiting for its new home, Colin Mansbridge, said he feared the stadium would never be built. Asked about the possibility of the project being put on hold, he said: "I feel another decade is coming." He also pointed out that the city council has now passed the point of no return and must continue.

The huge increase in the cost of building the new stadium has been attributed to what is being described as an overheated construction market, the Covid-19 outbreak, the war in Ukraine and the closure of China due to the fight against the virus. Barry Bragg, director of the company responsible for the stadium project, mainly blames the drastic rise in steel prices due to the war in Ukraine for the whole situation. In the last two months alone, he says, the conflict has led to international raw materials prices doubling and in some cases even tripling!

The stadium design, which already costed $40 million, has already undergone significant cost-cuffing anyway. One of the next options under consideration is to remove the middle section of the arena's roof and leave the turf uncovered, which could save an estimated $35 million. The project's architect says there are still several areas that can be improved. However, it has indicated that it will be very difficult to reduce the scope of the stadium without a significant redesign.