Work on the troubled Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre on the corner of Moorhouse Ave and Antigua St is now about 80 per cent complete.
And contractors are confident it is still on schedule to be handed over to the Christchurch City Council in July next year.
Once completed, the three-level facility will be owned and operated by the city council. It will carry out a 12-week commissioning process and aims to open the doors to the public in October next year.
Parakiore will have a 10-lane, 50m pool with 1000 seats for spectators, a diving pool, five hydroslides, and several indoor sports courts.
The construction of the long-awaited facility started six years ago but has been plagued by delays.
It was originally due to be completed in October 2021, but rapidly rising costs and hazardous ground conditions have caused setbacks.
CPB estimated the total build-only cost for Parakiore had ballooned to $696 million, more than triple the original $220 million contract price.
CPB then launched legal action in a bid to cancel the contract but later dropped the lawsuit after Rau Paenga rejected claims of sizeable cost variations.
Parakiore's new completion date could potentially see two of the city’s major anchor projects open within months of each other with One New Zealand Stadium on track to be finished by April 2026.
- By Geoff Sloan, made with the support of NZ On Air
