Old Municipal Building (Town Hall) restoration

Project typeRestoration work
Project value$7.4 million
Project scheduleJuly 2023 to December 2025
Contractor nameARCO Group

A partially restored room in the Old Municipal Building.

Real progress is being made on the restoration of Whangārei’s Old Municipal Building (OMB), which was badly damaged by fire in 2019.

The contractor has scheduled the $7.4 million restoration to be completed by the New Year.

The building will then become a new, upgraded home to former Community Hub tenants – Multicultural Whangārei, Volunteering Northland, WINGS, Literacy Whangārei, Multiple Sclerosis Society and Dyslexia Plus.

Once complete, the building should be good for at least another century in business, reminding us of the commitment that the people of the District have made to important, landmark buildings that have served the community for generations.

Repair work

All fire-damaged areas have been repaired since physical work on the building began in 2023. The roof has been replaced and the main part of the building has been seismic strengthened.

The ground floor has been carefully restored to reflect the original design, with all the original trims and many of the original doors refurbished and reinstalled.

The second floor has been redesigned with a modern layout to suit new tenants and will be fitted out by the main contractor as a variation.

Both levels have been upgraded to meet current New Zealand accessibility, electrical and fire standards.

Precast concrete walls have been installed to form the new lift annex, further improving access to the building.

Throughout the process, Heritage NZ has been consulted and engaged to ensure the heritage 'feel and fabric' of the building remains, and many of the trims, old doors and elements of the old building have been restored and reused.

Mayor Vince Cocurullo looking up at restoration work in the Old Municipal Building. — OMB-Mayor

What to expect during the repair work

Car parking

Fencing will go in around the crane and several carparks behind the building. From time to time, the entire carpark may need to be closed for one to two hours.

Deliveries

Deliveries will be made in the early mornings from 6:00am to 7:00am to reduce disruptions to surrounding businesses and traffic.

Delays in restoration

Restoring the building has been a long process.

Insurance

The insurance was enough to bring the building up to its former standard, but that would not have met current building code requirements.

Working out what could be done, what would produce the best result for the ratepayer and how it could be funded took much longer than anticipated.

COVID-19

COVID-19 was discovered only two months after the fire. The following year was spent in and out of lockdown, slowing down work, and causing major supply-line problems and price rises across the world for steel beams and other building materials.

New foundations

Laying the new foundations also took longer than expected because Bank Street sits on solid basalt rock.

While managing this hard natural material required extra time, it does provide a very strong base for the building's future.

Surprises

Teams also discovered that the annex that had been added to the back of the building was not covered by the insurance. Even so, its rotten roof needed replacing and its triple layers of brick walls had to be anchored together with more than 3,000 brick ties.

A few more discoveries about the building’s construction, condition and repairs over the past 110 years meant there was always something surprising around the corner.

It also required taking time with a careful redesign to bring the building back to life and improve its layout and usability.