The chairman of Christchurch City Council's stadium board announced today a fixed price of $683 million has been negotiated with lead contractors.
Work on the stadium now has a fixed price of $638 million. Photo: RNZ / Supplied
Barry Bragg said he was very confident spending wouldn't overtake this budget, after a $150 million blowout to reach the current price.
"Overall the board are confident about delivering the project within the total project budget, we think we have a very good contract going forward given the market conditions," Bragg said.
He said a significant portion of funding had been set aside as a contingency, but he wouldn't reveal how much - even though the project was partially publicly funded.
"We don't want to use the contingency. We've had expert advice... so that we can make allowance for that and don't have to ask ratepayers for any further money."
The case from locals to push ahead despite astronomical costs was strong - 77 percent of submissions in the recent consultation were in support of continuing the build with an increased budget.
Fifteen percent of submitters wanted to scrap the stadium, and eight percent wanted to pause and re-evaluate.
Council research analyst Aimee Martin described a key message from locals supporting the budget increase who were fed up from a decade of delayed earthquake rebuilds.
"It was around, 'We deserve this facility, we've waited a long time for it, we've been through a lot in the last 10 years'."
The stadium was a three-way partnership between Te Kaha Project Delivery Limited, Christchurch City Council and Venues Ōtautahi.
Venues Ōtautahi chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare said event forecasts looked strong, and she was confident the stadium would bring in a full schedule.
"This is going to be an exceptional venue, and one that is exceptionally competitive on the national and Australasian markets particularly," she said.
"It's also uniquely local, and we think that is a really cool proposition in terms of attracting events to the city."
Bragg said while foundational work was already underway, the real strain would kick in when building began.
But he stressed that lead contractor BESIX Watpac would have sole responsibility of keeping the budget and schedule on track.
"We are all motivated to keep to that timeframe, BESIX Watpac in particular, because they're not able to claim additional costs if that time moves out from that program date, so both parties will be working very closely to deliver on that program date."
Councillors would decide on the stadium's future on Thursday. If it went ahead, the stadium was due to be completed in April 2026.