The house was gifted by the Anderson family to the city council in 1951, but has been closed since 2014 due to earthquake concerns.
At an infrastructural committee meeting last week, group manager infrastructure Erin Moogan told councillors the scaffolding was now erected and contractors from Donaldson Construction Services had been removing the wall cladding in order to strengthen the building.
"At this stage, the project is on track — both from a programme and budget perspective."
A safety audit of the site had been completed which had pleasing results, she said.
In 2017, the council agreed to $1.72 million of work on Anderson House, including strengthening work, as part of the 2018-28 long-term plan.
However, last year, councillors voted unanimously to "immediately" undertake the work with a budget of up to $400,000 for the urgent water-tightening work, as well as $400,000 for strengthening the building, and a further $314,000 to carry out fire protection work and other access issues.
During this year’s long-term plan deliberations, staff indicated the work would only start in 2022 due to a lack of contractors. However, in October Ms Moogan confirmed the work would start in November.
The work being undertaken includes earthquake strengthening and external watertightness and was anticipated to be completed by April.
