Construction of Christchurch’s long-awaited stadium is entering its final stretch, with One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha on track to open its doors in a year’s time.
The Garden City’s largest construction project broke ground in April 2022 and is expected to be complete in April 2026. The multi-use arena will have capacity for a crowd of 30,000 (25,000 permanent seats and room for 5000 more) for sports matches and up to 37,300 when in concert mode.
It will be the last of the anchor projects from the original rebuild blueprint.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger said the milestone was “great for the project and the city”.
“There’s huge excitement in the community about One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha and all the benefits it will bring to Christchurch. People really can’t wait to get in there for big concerts, sports matches and everything in between.”
The project’s budget is now finalised at $683 million after a major cost blowout after the Covid-19 pandemic led the Council to put in another $150 million to retain seating capacity.
Mauger said it was a lot of money to spend but that he was convinced it was the right call to make.
“You don’t want to be sitting here in a few years’ time and think ‘oh, if only we’d spent a little bit more we could have had more seats’, so we got one shot.”
The new stadium replaces the original Lancaster Park which was damaged extensively in the earthquakes and then demolished.
Christchurch City Council project director Ken Summerfield said while he had fond memories of Lancaster Park, Te Kaha would be a “special venue” for a new generation.
“It’s also a place for the community and the city to connect again, come together for those major sporting events.”
Progress was “very pleasing” and a “testament to the hard work the whole team has put in to get us here”, he said.
“There’s still quite a bit to be done but tracking along nicely at the moment.”
Work over the next six months will focus on cladding the roof and façade, with the turf, currently being grown off-site, set to arrive and be rolled out later this year.
BESIX Watpac chief executive Mark Baker said the use of natural grass inside a fully enclosed stadium was a rare feat.
“This will be just the second stadium in the world to have a natural grass playing surface that’s fully enclosed, so it’s something special.”
The arena is also designed to be seismically resilient. Its external steel structure is not connected to the seating bowl, meaning the two components can move independently during an earthquake in a first for the company, Baker said.
One New Zealand Stadium is set to become a new home for sport in the South in April next year, playing host to the Crusaders and Matatū in Super Rugby, with the Warriors and Wellington Phoenix also signed up to play matches at the venue.
