The date was announced to elected members at a full council meeting last Wednesday by staffer David Scoones, who said ‘‘we’ve got a lot to do in those 15 months’’.
Mr Scoones outlined options for how the facility could be run, saying staff had been working with the Cromwell Community Board and other stakeholders on this.
He said an initial annual ballpark operational cost was $2.3million, but that was for a ‘‘gold-plate level’’ of service, and feedback from the community board suggested a preference for a running model that made the building accessible to as many people as possible.
He proposed costs be offset by commercial leases for the included cafe and cinema, as well as by commercial hirers of the venue.
‘‘When Taylor Swift comes to play we’ll charge her more than what we would charge the local pipe band or the Fine Thyme Theatre Company,’’ he said.
However, hard and fast figures on fees and charges are yet to be nutted out.
During discussion around the council table Maniototo ward councillor Stuart Duncan queried who should be directing decisions when it came to the new facility, in light of a shift by the council to a district-wide funding model last year.
He asked what would happen if members of the Cromwell Community Board went ‘‘off on a tangent’’, also saying it was the community’s ‘‘wish list’’ that had inflated the project’s budget.
‘‘With district-wide funding this is a district-wide asset, and I guess this feels like they [the community board] are giving us the guidance on how they want it to run ... Why aren’t we having a say?’’
Cromwell councillor and deputy mayor Neil Gillespie said he thought it was right the project be led from Cromwell, and the current option for councillors to feed in and sign off on decisions was robust.
Meanwhile, the contractor charged with delivering what will be a $45.8m events centre and museum is celebrating reaching the halfway point in its construction.
Captured using a drone flying across the Kawarau Arm of Lake Dunstan and down Monaghan St, a film of the work site was posted to LinkedIn by Naylor Love to mark the milestone last week.
‘‘We’re halfway there ... with the community spaces roof on, the precast panel structure complete, and the steel framework progressing smoothly,’’ Naylor Love said.
‘‘Inside the first services are already under way, and the internal frames for the community spaces and museum are up. We’re excited to see this space become a new gathering point for the Cromwell community.’’
- By Kim Bowden
