The Gore District Council is to carry out urgent remedial work on the concrete tiered seating at the MLT Event Centre. This comes amid concerns about its structural integrity.
Chief executive Stephen Parry said an assessment of one of the seating support walls, carried out by a structural engineer last week, identified issues with the area’s capacity to support significant weights.
As a result, the Council has closed off the seating area and will proceed with design work to strengthen it. The design work should be carried out next month.
The engineering assessment was commissioned after staff noticed a deterioration in cracks in a section of the seating area.
Mr Parry said the changing rooms and toilets underneath the bleachers, and the remainder of the event centre, were safe.
“Public safety is paramount.
“The specialist advice we have received from a structural engineer is that there is no risk as long as there’s no weight on the tiered seating.”
Mr Parry said the preliminary assessment carried out by a structural engineer did not identify any obvious risks to the public apart from the seating area.
The event centre was opened in November 2009 and is part of the Gore Multisports Complex. The structural engineer was Invercargill engineer Tony Major, who also worked on Stadium Southland.
Mr Parry said given Mr Major’s involvement and the minor cracking to some concrete panels, the Council would commission a detailed structural assessment of the entire building. It is hoped to have this completed by October 2018.
“In the meantime, the usual events and competitions at the event centre will still go ahead.
“I want to assure people we will be closely monitoring any areas of concerns,” he said.
MLT Event Centre facts:
- Opened in November 2009
- The Gore Multisports Centre Charitable Trust was responsible for overseeing its construction.
- The event centre is 2900sq m of clear-span space, and houses changing rooms, 300 permanent tiered seats, four netball courts, two basketball courts and three tennis courts.
- Maximum capacity 1000