By Anna Sargent
Christchurch's long-awaited $683 million stadium is on track to open its doors in one year's time.
Journalists were given a look inside the construction site to mark the milestone on Monday.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger said he was thrilled the stadium was on budget and on track to open in April 2026.
The city council said the stadium was Christchurch's largest ever construction project.
"I'm really looking forward to it, you can see how close everyone is going to be to the field of play, it's going to be outstanding," Mauger said.
The arena - which will be known as One New Zealand Stadium under a naming rights deal - would have capacity for 30,000 people at sports events and 36,000 at large music events.
"The convention centre in the first eight months of operation brought $45 million to Christchurch, so say that's $60 million a year for that one, if this is same, if not more, the sky's the limit," he said.
BESIX Watpac were the lead contractor for the project. Chief executive Mark Baker said construction was progressing well and the biggest focus right now was making the building water-tight.
"We just need to finalise all of the roof cladding, some fit-out areas need to be progressed and then just the final touch ups in the bowl area," he said.
Grass for the field was being grown off-site and would be transferred in at the end, Baker said.
Earthquake strengthening had also been a key consideration, he said.
"The most stringent engineering principles have been adopted in the context of this project, not just in its final state but also in the temporary state so during construction we've considered all of the issues associated with a potential earthquake.
"Everyone can feel very safe and assured that it will be a structure that withstands anything that nature can throw at it."
Venues Ōtautahi said at this stage it was not in a position to comment on what the first event would be at the stadium.
"Commercial discussions are well underway and there will be a large volume of high quality events coming to One NZ Stadium from 2026 and beyond," a spokesperson said.
"Venues Ōtautahi is currently curating the opening series of events across the first 90 days of the venue being opened."
Venues Ōtautahi chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare said the stadium was the last of the anchor projects considered necessary to regenerate the city centre following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
"While the name of the stadium will now be One New Zealand Stadium, the whenua beneath the venue will remain Te Kaha and the whole precinct will be known as Te Kaharoa being the names gifted to the city by Ngai Tūāhuriri," she said.
