Town Hall Costs May Rise

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31540, 30 November 1967, Page 16

Town Hall Costs May Rise

“This is something of concern. It is going to affect every building in New Zealand,” said the chairman of the City Council’s town hall committee

(Mr H. G. Hay), discussing finance for the town hall project last evening. When Cr Hay met a joint meeting of the Paparua and Baisweil county councils, Cr W. L. Ragg asked him if devaluation had affected town hall cost estimates.

“During the last day or two, some imported building materials have gone up 22$ per cent,” said Cr Ragg. Cr Hay said he had already

considered the implications of devaluation, as it was obvious that the town hall would contain imported materials. “We can only hope that the depressed state of the building trade will cause it to offset material cost increases when we get the town hall tenders,” he said. Cr Hay asked both councils for an early decision to increase their contributions to the town hall fund, so that the City Council had a definite basis for a loan application.

“If we are going to take advantage of a favourable climate for building, we need early Loans Board approval, and that might be the hardest part of the job, in view of the amount required,” said Cr Hay.

The architects, before devaluation, had put the building cost at $2,256,000, and in addition, architects’ fees would be $250,000, and with

furnishings, the total cost would be $2,700,000. The council envisaged a loan of $1,800,000. The architects, Warren and Mahoney, were right up to timetable with drawings for the Christchurch town hall, and it could be expected that tenders would be available for consideration next September, said Cr Hay. Both councils deferred a decision on finance to their December meetings.