Risk specialist to speak on Opera House

The author of a substantial report on the safety of the Hawke’s Bay Opera House says the Hastings District Council should get safety and legal advice before spending millions of dollars on strengthening the building.

Ian Harrison, who will speak on options for the Opera House at the Havelock North Function Centre at 7pm on Monday night, warns that ratepayers’ money may be spent for no good reason.

Mr Harrison became keenly interested in seismic strengthening when the value of an apartment he owns in a Wellington CBD building plummeted to zero after engineers declared it earthquake-prone.

Last month the Hastings council slashed the book value of the Opera House and the Municipal Building to zero.

On Monday, Mr Harrison will explain why the Opera House is legally not earthquake-prone, why it presents an extremely low risk to life, and why strengthening is an extremely bad investment.

Mr Harrison is chair of Evidence Based Seismic Strengthening, a group set up to lobby central and local governments for evidence-based seismic strengthening policies, and to help building owners who may have received poor advice.

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