Update on Old Library Café

May 30, 2014

Update on Old Library Café

Two tenders have been received for the repair of the Old Library Café building in Fairlie.

Mackenzie District Council chief executive Wayne Barnett says two Mackenzie building companies have tendered for the work. The council’s architect is negotiating with them regarding the details and a preferred tender will be decided soon.

“The council’s architect has estimated the cost to repair the Old Library Café to be about $585,000. Both tenders are close to that amount. We are confident that a suitable contract will be negotiated and signed soon. Once this happens we will be in a position to announce the construction timeframe,” he says.

The Old Library Café building was damaged by fire in October 2011. The insurers gave several options regarding settlement. One of those was to use the insured value to either repair the existing building or to construct a replacement. Following public meetings and feedback from the community, the council decided to call for tenders to repair the existing building.

A specialist heritage engineer was needed to complete the detailed design to repair the building. A shortage of engineers with these skills, due to high demand following the Christchurch earthquakes, resulted in a two month delay to the project.

Mr Barnett says a further update will be published in the Fairlie Accessible soon, including a start date for the work.

ENDS

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