Mayor seeks more information on waterfront car park
4 February 2020
Wellington Mayor Andy Foster is seeking
advice on options and costs relating to the Frank Kitts Park
car park, which has been declared earthquake-prone.
The Wellington Underground Market is to cease trading in
the waterfront car park following confirmation by engineers
that the structure is earthquake-prone. The last market will
be held in the car park on Saturday 14 March.
Mayor
Foster says the building, constructed in 1989, is on a key
site on the waterfront and that it is really disappointing
the market has to close. “However I understand the
concerns that have led to the decision to close.
“The market is a much loved attraction, full of
creative enterprises, and acts as a valuable business
incubator.
“I have met some of the stall holders
and am already actively looking for alternative venues for
the underground market with Wellington Creative Markets,
which runs the market. We’d love to hear from any property
owners who think they might be able to accommodate all or
part of the market.”
Wellington City Council Acting
Chief Operating Officer Paul Andrews says the decision to
declare the building quake-prone (less than 34% of new
building standard) follows a Detailed Seismic Assessment
completed by engineers Holmes Consulting that identified
structural weaknesses in elements of the building.
“Following discussions with the market operators we have decided we are not comfortable with the level of risk to the several hundred people who can be in the car park when the market is trading.”
The timing of the last
underground market has been agreed by Wellington Creative
Markets and the City Council.
Mr Andrews says the
quake-prone listing of the car park means the Council is now
legally required to remedy the situation in seven years’
time – however work to strengthen or demolish the building
could be done sooner than that depending on decisions
relating to the future of the overall site.
In the
meantime the building will continue to operate as a
commercial car park and the park above will remain open to
public use. The retailers operating in small shops on the
lagoon and harbour frontages of the car park building are
able to remain open.
The City Council last year
commissioned Holmes Consulting to undertake a seismic
assessment of the car park, as part of the Council’s
obligation to review the resilience of its buildings. It
also followed damage to sections of the waterfront in the
2016 Kaikoura quake – and new insights into the
performance of differing ground conditions and building
materials following the Christchurch and Kaikoura
quakes.
Mr Andrews says Frank Kitts Park is on land
reclaimed from the harbour in the 1970s. “Engineers’
advice is that the ground, being reclaimed land, could
perform poorly in a quake.”
He says a report on
options and issues relating to the car park and the overall
park site will be prepared for consideration by the elected
Council. This recognises that the condition of the car park
will have an impact on consented proposals for upgrading
Frank Kitts Park including a new children’s playground and
the proposed Chinese Garden.
Mr Andrews says the Homegrown music festival in Frank Kitts Park in March will go ahead as planned. The Council will assist Wellington Creative Markets where possible in its attempts to find a replacement venue for the market. Staff are also discussing with Wellington’s Chinese community the impact on the car park’s quake-prone status on plans for the Chinese Garden in Frank Kitts Park.
Background
The 30-year-old car park is a single-storey building on Jervois Quay. It houses the Wellington Underground Market every Saturday, and the car park’s roof is part of Frank Kitts Park.
The seismic assessment identified structural weaknesses in the car park’s roof and issues with the seismic performance of the reclaimed ground under the car park.
Wellington Creative Markets is a business that operates the Underground Market. It has been operating from the car park for 10 years. Wellington Creative Markets host 70 to 100 stallholders operating on Saturdays and some Sundays year-round.