Remedial Work On Civic Building Until New Headquarters Is Found

Invercargill City Council to decide on new headquarters by the end of August
Current Civic building costs $1 million annually for maintenance and repairs
Potential new shared facility with other Southland councils under consideration

The Invercargill City Council should know by the end of August whether other Southland councils will be joining them in their next move to new headquarters.

Mayor Nobby Clark told the Finance and Projects Committee meeting yesterday he was concerned about how much was being spent on remedial work for the current Civic building in Esk Street in the meantime.

General manager of Infrastructure Erin Moogan told the meeting it cost council $1 million a year “just to keep the lights on,” and anything that staff saw as a health and safety risk was immediately fixed under its maintenance and renewal contract.

The deteriorating building had poor heating, was leaking and windows needing replaced. A fit out was underway on the first floor and other floors also had staff being shuffled around to accommodate the ongoing repairs.

Council indicated earlier this week a new option for housing staff was being looked into, and a report would be presented shortly.

Recent public consultation on its 10-year plan proposed $15.4m capital spending for the headquarters to be safely occupied for the coming five years.

However, the council intended to spend only a small part of that in the first couple of years because it was considering options for basing itself in a different building in future.

Mayor Clark told the meeting that by the end of August it would become more clear if other councils were going to “step up and be part of that shared facility.”

“Some need assurances that we aren’t just by stealth doing up our current building when we could be out of the building in three to four years.”

Erin said although they have had to do some remedial work, it didn’t fix the underlying issues of the building.

Mayor Nobby Clark has long been an advocate for leasing a building that all Southland councils could use, along with shared services.