Updated 31 December 2011. This page is dedicated to the club rebuild project. I will attempt to keep you up to date with developments and provide answers to the main questions that I hear. The next stage is to ask all members for more information about the details of how the new club will work. Some information will be provided and some questions will be asked soon.
The main questions you have asked:
1. Number of car parks. A new parking sketch has been completed and replaces the document here. The plan of the site now shows 126 car parks, including 3 disabled parks. This is the same number we had at Nova Place, using the same measurements and spacings as the front park. We will do detailed drawings later in 2012.
2. Why do we lose 10m on the East side? We want a building of some 700 m2. With walls up to 20m long, we can build up to 2m from the boundary. With walls over 20m we need to build at least 10m from the boundary. Please feel free to try and get a 700+ m2 building on this site, meeting those requirements. To move closer to the fence we would need to break the 30+m wall, with a 2.4 m step in the building. We would also have to apply for resource consent. This would I understand involve getting approval from all neighbours. Any resource consent issued may have restrictions like noise and hours of operation. We could go through this process, but there are costs which are unknown but we anticipate may range from $5,000 to in excess of $100,000 and may take from 3-12 months to resolve. All so we can get an extra 6-8 car parks.
3. Natural light. Some have asked for more windows. We have put more windows in the West wall. We are still considering other windows on the East wall. If we have lots of windows, the building is not as strong. Also people will want curtains to cut out the direct sunlight. We cannot put windows in the North wall. This is a fire wall. At 2 m from the boundary it is not possible.
4. Other Options. We have a number of requests to consider including office space for rent within the design. This could be achieved with a 2-storey design. This has been looked into in detail. It does not meet the existing use rights definition and would need a resource consent. We may not be able to build at all, as our land is considered to be residential. Inland Revenue would treat us as a business and we lose our tax-free status. We may have trouble obtaining charitable funds. The height restrictions on our site are at 8 m. Our planned new building is almost 8 m high, so there is no room to have a spacious club rooms and offices. The Objects of the Club, as detailed in Rule 3 of our constitution do not allow such departures from our core function as a bridge club. This last point was debated as part of the rules review in 2005.
5. Insurance. We have an indemnity policy, which means a fixed price payout (only residential policies have replacement clauses). The amount is not inflation adjusted, so as time goes on the buying power of the money decreases. There are additional costs with piling, carpark refurbishment and demolition which will mean we will need to spend more than the payout. The insurance company have made an undertaking to pay for the cost of the rebuild, as it proceeds, up to the capped value. Insurance during the building period will be the responsibility of the builder. Insurance after the build is complete is uncertain. Insurance companies are not making forward promises to anyone. One possibility is that Christchurch could join California and Japan who have no access to earthquake insurance.
6. Timeframe. We hope to have a few test piles banged in during January, before finalising the piling plan and submitting it for council approval. This is the ultimate test of the land strength. We hope to have plans to the council in January, with consent issued in February. Building tenders are to close in February. Then fingers crossed they have a good run before winter.
7. Changes to original concept plan. We have added floor to ceiling windows on the West facing wall. We have added double automatic doors at the front entrance. We will change the cladding on the front of the building. The carpark sketch will change significantly and include almost the same number of parks we have now.
The concept plans:
Elevation of new building front
Some other points:
1. The new building floor area is the same as at Nova Place is now. We have arranged it to remove some wasted space within the building and make the playing area larger.
2. The ceiling height in the playing areas starts at 3 m and rises to 4.8 m in the middle. The current Nova Place ceiling is 3.2 m at the maximum. This will make this feel very spacious and reduce noise to a minimum.
3. We will reuse as much as we reasonably can from the old building. The carpet, trophy cabinet, dishwashers, library cabinet and of course the tables and chairs will be used.
4. The new building is designed to withstand all the earthquakes Christchurch has suffered over the last 14 months. The design of the piles and the building have to be approved by registered structural engineers as part of the consent process.
5. The new building will have a very high level of insulation. There will be a completely new air conditioning system installed. In combination these two factors will give us the best heating, cooling and ventilating we have ever had.
6. The proposed building is a very simple design, very strong and relatively cheap to build. This is important as we are on a fixed budget. We hope we can build the new building with the money we have. There are additional costs then to remove the old building and to develop the car park. We expect to need to raise funds, from charities in particular, to cover the shortfall. We may carry a mortgage at the completion of the project. By the end of January 2012, I hope to have exact figures and be able to provide an accurate budget.
John Skipper