‘Homework’ for Nelson council as it explores $93m civic facility

A major redevelopment of Nelson's ageing civic facilities could cost up to $93 million under three options to be explored by the council.

Nelson City Council is keeping its options wide open as it explores what to do with Civic House and the Elma Turner Library – two vital facilities that are nearing the end of their lives.

A redevelopment of Civic House for continued council use was estimated to cost $55 million while a redevelopment of the library has been forecast at almost $46 million.

In the face of those significant costs, the council commissioned a business case for various options to address Nelson’s need for new facilities.

On Thursday, the council decided that three leading indicative options will now be explored in a detailed business case.

The options, with indicative costings, are:
- developing a new building on a council-owned site ($93.3 million),
- leasing a new building developed by a third party ($24.7 million),
- or demolishing and rebuilding the southern part of the council building while refurbishing the tower block ($80.6 million).

The first two options would be offset by an estimated $10 million from the sale of the current Civic House and Elma Turner Library properties, while the third option would only see the sale of the library site and so would only be offset by $3 million.

Despite a lower initial cost, the leasing option is expected to be more costly over a 20-year period due to operating costs about $4.5 million per annum higher than if the council owned the building.

“You’re paying someone else to run the building for you, to build the building, and you’re paying them quite a high rental during the year. Whereas, if you build it yourself, you’re paying interest and depreciation,” explained Nikki Harrison, the council’s group manager corporate services.

All three options would see the council’s office spaces, a city-centre library, and a community hub provided for in a single facility which is expected to be cheaper than separate facilities.

The cost of exploring all three options in-depth is expected to be between $250–$350,000 and will take about a year, with mayor Nick Smith saying it was the “responsible way forward”.

“None of these options are going to proceed without a full and thorough process of consultation, but you can’t do that meaningful consultation if you do not have reliable information for the public to have,” he said.

“This … is about doing the homework and the detail to be able to equip our community and this council to make some good decisions further down the track.”

It’s possible that through the detailed business case a different option, such as keeping the council building and library apart, is found to be a more suitable option.

Councillors were eager to get underway, with deputy mayor Rohan O’Neill-Stevens saying that Nelsonians should “dream a little bit bigger” than its current aged facilities.

“Our community deserves great public facilities.”

Councillor Trudie Brand said investment was needed with the Elma Turner Library “at death’s door”, while councillor Rachel Sanson was enthusiastic about the possibility of Civic House being turned into housing.

As part of the business case, expressions of interest will be sought for the Civic House and library sites, which will both be divested in two of the three options.

Council chief executive Nigel Philpott confirmed that he has already informally received interest from the private sector in the Civic House site.

But councillor Tim Skinner thought the cost of the proposals were “madness”.

“We’re going through a cost-of-living crisis,” he said.

“Outside of this council table, there is not an appetite for this. Even if there was, there’s not the financial capacity.”

Skinner maintained that the Elma Turner Library, which recently underwent $2.5 million of strengthening work to extend its life by 5–10 years, was “fine” and that the council should limit its investment in Civic House to $5 million for strengthening the earthquake-prone roof.

Though Civic House itself is largely structurally sound, many of the building’s systems, like its heating or air conditioning, are ageing and in “critical” need of renewal.

If one of the systems fail, the council would be faced with a “large” unbudgeted cost at short notice and the building would have to be vacated while it was restored, potentially impacting the council’s services.

The detailed business case will not be completed until about July 2025, with consultation and approval of a final plan to occur thereafter.

Construction on any of the three options is not slated to begin until 2027 at the earliest, a time in which Smith is “optimistic” that the economy will have improved and therefore be more appropriate for the council to undertake significant capital projects.