Whangarei District councillors have selected the location for the new Civic Centre.

The new centre will be built in the Forum North/RSA precinct, on land already owned by Council, in favour of a central city location.

Councillors also voted to enter into negotiations with Canam Construction as the lead contractor for the build and The Building Intelligence Group as Principal’s Agent for the project.

Canam Construction has recently completed the Bay of Islands Hospital redevelopment at Kawakawa. Other local projects include the new maternity unit and accommodation office fit-out at Whangarei Hospital, the Whangarei BNZ branch, and the VTNZ refurbishment in KeriKeri.

Council’s Corporate General Manager Alan Adcock says it is exciting to move into the next stage of the project.

“We are going to use a collaborative approach; where we work with Canam Construction as the Lead Contractor. They in turn will assemble a team including architects, engineers, planners, landscape designers etc. who will work with us to develop concept designs, take them through detailed design and consenting processes, construction and fit-out before handover of the finished complex. The Building Intelligence Group have been selected as Principal’s Agent and will act as Council’s project manager and provide objective peer reviews as the project unfolds.”

Mr Adcock says considerable interest was shown in the project, with tender submissions coming from local, national and Australian suppliers.

“Council has been exploring for several years how to create a civic centre that is suitable for our growing city and enables all our staff to work in one central location. We will be doing our best to create an award-winning building, which also provides value for money. It must be innovative in design, meet the needs of our community now and in the future, and be designed with sustainability in mind.”

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