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Council seizes “once in a lifetime opportunity”
HUTT CITY COUNCIL NEWS RELEASE
13 NOVEMBER 2013
Council seizes “once in a lifetime opportunity”
Lower Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace described last night’s Council decision on the future of the Town and Horticultural halls as a “once in a lifetime opportunity”.
Council adopted Option 3E+, the second of the two options tabled, as its preference.
With this option both the Town and Horticultural halls will be demolished to make way for a new civic facility positioned to capitalise on the lucrative conference market.
“This new facility will enable us to claim our share of the regional conference market, which currently sits at only four per cent, and further stimulate business in our city and create new jobs for our people.
“It’s the catalyst we need to revitalise our CBD and I’m proud to lead a Council with the vision to make this decision for our city and its people,” said Mayor Wallace.
Deputy Mayor David Bassett, who was credited for his instrumental role as chair of the Seismic Project Working Group, shared the Mayor’s enthusiasm.
“This is a hugely significant development and a lot of time and effort has gone into ensuring it’s the right one for our city.
“Great consideration has been given to the heritage value of the Civic Precinct, the need to provide flexible spaces for our local community and the opportunity for our city to be a major player in the conference market.
“Option 3E+ strikes a balance between all these considerations and work now begins on making the potential of this exciting development a reality,” he said.
Highlights of the new facility include:
+ Flexible function rooms that can be combined to create larger spaces up to 1,122m²
+ Space for a café and bar
+ Generous foyer space for civic functions, pre-function hospitality, exhibitions and conference registrations
+ Modern back of house facilities
+ Visual and physical connection with the Riddiford Gardens and the wider Civic Precinct
+ Flexible spaces to accommodate both indoor and outdoor events.
Work on the new civic facility, budgeted to cost $10.5million, will begin next year to coincide with the start of earthquake strengthening of the neighbouring council administration block.
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