I have been surprised that we have had little paperwork specifying what the $14 million Municipal Chambers restoration is being spent on, but we have been told verbally that significant spending was required, largely due to seismic strengthening of the main tower.
I have questioned the restoration cost and especially the timescale which we have been told will be 5 years which seems a ridiculously long time to have scaffolding up, especially since the Town Hall was built in only two years from foundation stone to opening, 100 years ago.

As a Councillor I have had little written information on the restoration project or on what the building structural assessment has revealed.
There was a Councillor tour of the building work progress some months ago that I did not attend.
It appears to me that DCC staff consider the restoration project to be an operational matter that they would rather elected representatives did not concern themselves with.
Endorsing the $14 million budget was a bit like endorsing the $15 million Edgar Center roof budget which I did question closely but was given staff assurances that re-pitching and insulating etc made for a very expensive estimate. Again, operational staff work that I believe elected representatives should be more involved in.
I have made some progress with independent inquiries into the Edgar Center roof, discussions with roofing contractors and others suggesting that the $15 million estimate is double what is needed.

I was disappointed to see the new garishly bright and ugly signage suddenly appear on the Town hall and Glenroy exterior a few months back without any forewarning, but I have not formally complained or asked of the cost of it yet as I have been focused on battling the new $120 million of new debt recently pushed through the 9 Year Plan.
Hopefully this garish signage is just temporary wayfinding around the scaffolding wall structures.

It appears that Council meetings will not return to the Municipal Chambers for 5 years, and I have no recollection of the appropriateness of the $14 million figure being debated or even discussed. Hopefully the new Council will address and question this proposed spend and hundreds of millions more in the 9 Year Plan soon after taking office in October.

Just in from DCC staff…
“Again, thanks again for your patience with this one. Here is a statement in response to your questions about the Municipal Chambers and Town Hall heritage restoration project.

If needed, please attribute to Group Manager Property Services Anna Nilsen.

There are two streams of work currently underway on the Town Hall and Municipal Chambers complex, one of which is the Exterior Heritage Restoration project and the other involves Seismic Investigation and Strengthening work. These are separate projects, but we are considering them together to ensure their interdependencies are managed. 

The heritage restoration project is being completed in four stages, with each phase focusing on different areas of the building. Plans for the first stage have already been developed in consultation with heritage experts and Heritage New Zealand. Most of Stage One focuses on two of the pavilions and the Municipal Laneway and Octagon façade of the Municipal Chambers building and involves the restoration of stonework, lead and copper flashings, timber repairs, and paintwork. The first stage is estimated to cost $2.7 million over the next 14 months. 

Planning for the later stages of the heritage restoration project is still underway. While work in each stage will be similar, we are unable to confirm the costs or an expected timeline until details are finalised. Alongside the restoration project, staff have been working with structural engineers to develop a detailed seismic assessment of the complex. This is to help identify what strengthening work might be needed and how much it will cost. The current budget allocated in the 9yp is to go towards the first stage of the Exterior Heritage Restoration project, and continue consultation work with heritage and engineering experts, and determine options for potential strengthening work and the planning for later stages of the exterior restoration work.

Councillors have been informed of the approach we are taking, and that staff will be presenting an update on how it is progressing (see excerpts from Council reports in January and May of this year).  We had planned to update Council in May, but staff needed to obtain more information to prepare the report. The report will now go to Council in either July or August. Once we have a better understanding of what strengthening work might be needed and the potential costs, Council will then decide on how to proceed with the project. The restoration work is a multi-year project and is likely to continue until at least 2028.

•  

Report Exerts

Page 11 of 33 Capital Expenditure report 25-34 to Council 28/1/25

b)      Operational Property – $71.404 million. The major renewal projects under this portfolio are as follows. The first five projects on the list below are core city-wide emissions reduction projects. 

·            Town Hall and Municipal Chambers – $13.020 million, including $6.693 million for heritage restoration and seismic investigation, $2.987 million for the renewal of energy systems, and $1.824 million for a lighting upgrade programme.

Page 11 of 19 Capital Expenditure 9 YP 25-34 report to council 26/5/25

City Properties

1                There are two projects under this activity group that require additional budget in the 9 year plan, totalling $1.2 million, for the reasons described below (Table 15). 

1)      Municipal Chamber/Town Hall Restoration – $1.0 million additional. The project is nearing completion of discovery and planning for Stage One works. The main contractor has priced the work required to restore Stage One of the Municipal Chambers exterior. Negotiations with the main contractor have concluded, and final pricing is in the order of $2.7 million (including contingency). The budget has been updated to reflect this amount. Staff will bring an update report on this project to the Infrastructure Services Committee in June 2025. 

Kia pai tō rā, 

Kā mihi nui, 

Samuel White

KAIARATAKI WHAKAPĀ – COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR
TE WHAKAPĀKA ME TE WHAKATAIRAKA – COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING 

P 03 477 4000″

From: Councillor Support <Councillor.Support@dcc.govt.nz>
Date: Monday, 21 July 2025 at 9:43 AM
To: Lee Vandervis <lee@vandervision.co.nz>
Cc: Council 2022-2025 (Elected Members) <council.2022-2025@dcc.govt.nz>, Executive Leadership Team (ELT) <elt@dcc.govt.nz>, Anna Nilsen <Anna.Nilsen@dcc.govt.nz>
Subject: Municipal Chambers and Town Hall Restoration

Kia ora Cr Vandervis,

Below is the DCC response to your questions regarding the Municipal Chambers and Town Hall restoration:

1. Can you please confirm the verbal advice I have had that the Municipal Chambers and Town Hall restoration will require scaffolding already up, for a total of 5 years?

The scaffolding and construction barrier is up to support the Exterior Restoration and Seismic Investigation and Strengthening projects. The timeline for the projects is not confirmed yet, but it is expected that the Exterior Heritage Restoration work will be until at least 2028.

2. Please also forward the annual cost budgeted of the scaffolding for this entire restoration.

The timeline for the projects is not confirmed yet, so we are unable to confirm the total costs for the scaffolding.

3. Can you also please forward a summary of the scope of works anticipated for this 5 year restoration project.

A briefing report is scheduled to go to Council for consideration in July or early August. It will explain the scope of work in more detail then.

4. Who commissioned the cold-white signage on the Town Hall and Glenroy, what was the cost of this signage, which business supplied the signage and is the signage intended to be temporary during restoration only, or permanent?

The construction barrier and signage installation were managed by Property Services. It was installed primarily for public safety however it blocked signage and wayfinding information. Staff worked with DVML to ensure signage met the needs of a function, events and conference venue. The new signage is temporary and will be removed at the completion of the projects.

Naylor Love are the main contractor on both projects, and they engaged Speedy Signs to supply and install the Lightbox signs.

The cost was $130,546.93 plus GST.

This included backlit signs as follows:

• Concertina style sign outside the Cinema
• Flat sign across the Moray Place main Town Hall Entrance
• Concertina style sign at the corner of Harrop Street
• Flat sign across the Glenroy Auditorium Entrance

Kā mihi,

Jackie Harrison

Manager Governance

Governance Support Office