Ceremony marks milestone for new Christchurch Central station

A ceremony this morning [Friday 4 May] at the site of the new Christchurch Central Police Station has formally marked the start of construction on the new facility.

Minister of Conservation, the Hon Kate Wilkinson, representing the Minister of Police, and District Commander Superintendent Gary Knowles turned the first sod on the site at the corner of St Asaph Street and Antigua Street.

Ngai Tahu representatives also performed a blessing at the site.

Minister Wilkinson said the ceremony marked an important milestone in the project to build a new temporary police station for Christchurch Central.

"Police have had a presence in central Christchurch for 139 years and this ceremony is a positive sign of Police commitment to the central city for the long term," she said.

"Christchurch's rebuild is going to be all about innovation and, and with this project, Police are adopting the latest technology to have a new facility ready by the end of the year.

"The new complex will be modern, spacious and comfortable - and meet the latest earthquake design standards for a post-disaster facility.

"It is also an important facility for the wider community - providing a strong police presence in the city as Christchurch and the surrounding area faces its long rebuilding phase."

District Commander Superintendent Gary Knowles said the project marked a new beginning for Police, and was an important symbol of the Christchurch rebuild.

"This is a really positive step after everything we have been through," he said.

"I'm extremely pleased with the progress of work on the new station. The site is now largely clear and we are getting under way with ground preparation, consents and other preliminary work.

"The facility is on track to be completed before the end of the year, with staff expected to start moving in during November.

"We've completed the majority of the design work on the facility and staff have been widely briefed on how the new station will look and function."

Superintendent Knowles said staff feedback on the facility had been extremely positive.

The new station will be a single-storey construction with a floor area of 7300 square metres. It is to be constructed using a modular system similar to that used on a number of other temporary facilities which have been built around the city post-earthquake. The lead contractors are Apollo Projects.

The facility is expected to serve as the Central station for approximately seven years while a permanent Police station is finalised and completed.

Police announced in December that they would relocate out of the 13-storey Hereford Street building they have occupied since 1973, because of the risk that continuing aftershocks may degrade internal services in the building.

Over the past three months, the upper floors of the existing police station in Hereford Street have been vacated, and staff are now using only the lower four levels of the building.