Cromwell: A small town with a big project

A small town is embracing a big concept for a state-of-the-art centre at Cromwell.

At the drop-in sessions back in March, the community was given the opportunity to chat to consultants Jasmax, Central Otago District Council staff and community board members about the Cromwell Memorial Hall and Events Centre and to view the preliminary designs.

The project captured the imaginations of people and groups in the Cromwell community, who directed the Council ‘to get on with it’.

The Cromwell Community Board, the designated leaders of this big bold project, most certainly want to do that over the coming months, community board chair and project advisory group representative Anna Harrison said. “But we also want to get it right and continue to take the community along on this journey with us.”

At the May meeting, the community board endorsed the developed design and the commencement of detailed design phase, subject to some additional reporting about how the centre is going to operate and any rating implications. Detailed design is progressing, and construction documents will be prepared and ready during August/September.

“It’s exciting that we’re moving cautiously forward,” Ms Harrison said. “After all, at nearly $43million, this is by far and away the biggest proposed spend that the district has ever seen. We’re responding to the ‘Be Bold’ feedback from the community. And we know that despite the price tag, after the overwhelmingly positive response and feedback we got from the drop-ins, that people really do want a centre that they can be proud of. However, we also have a responsibility to the community to leave no stone unturned in delivering something that is future-proof and will serve many generations, as well as being a real focal point for the district.

“It’s also exciting to imagine the types of events and uses a centre of this type could attract, and while we’re in the detailed design phase, there remain some opportunities for change, which provides a chance to reflect on why we’re doing this, and how we are going to do it, with some good robust operational and business modelling and a review of the benefits to the community of such a facility.”

The Cromwell Memorial Hall and Events Centre is to be paid for in the 2021/31 Long-term Plan at a cost of $31.5 million, with the shortfall in project funding of $11.349 million from external funders and land sales.

At the May Cromwell Community Board meeting, members also approved the demolition of the existing hall building, which is set to happen in October-November. The Board also approved appropriate salvaging, where the project team will seek opportunities to reuse materials such as the flooring either in the new centre or in other venues which could benefit from some of the items while also giving the community the opportunity to purchase or salvage items from the old hall. The procuring of construction and demolition services was also approved.

CODC Property and Facilities Manager Garreth Robinson confirmed that steady progress was being made towards reaching the detailed design phase by August, to deliver a robust design that would reflect the level of investment in this project.

“The next steps can’t come fast enough for those who want to see those elegant airy outlines that we’ve seen in the preliminary design phase, take a more solid shape.”

By October, the Board would hope to be tendering and negotiating a building contract. At the end of this stage a pre-tender estimate of cost and a schedule of quantities could be established by a quantity surveyor, with the construction phase to begin in the third quarter of 2023.

In October-November the old hall will be demolished.

“Over the coming months, we’re planning a community event to say an appropriate goodbye to the old hall,” Mr Robinson said.

For more information on the project go to:

Cromwell Memorial Hall & Events Centre | Let’s Talk Central Otago (codc.govt.nz)

Pictured: The CODC/Jasmax vision for Cromwell’s new hall and events centre.