Venue and Service Updates for Christchurch and Canterbury

Venues and Services within Christchurch City

May 2012 update:
The Chateau on the Park function rooms will be closed for earthquake repairs from 7 May until mid-August 2012. Whilst they are able to repair their accommodation rooms in stages to minimise disruption to guests, the function rooms all need to be closed to repair the damage at ground level.

The George is also undergoing earthquake repairs and is currently closed - due to re-open in June 2012.

At a Glance:

Venues:
Air Force Museum                                            max capacity: 110                         rooms: 7
CBS Canterbury Arena                                     max capacity: up to 9000              rooms: 20
International Antarctic Centre                           max capacity: 250                         rooms: 1

Hotels:
Heartland Hotel                                                max capacity:    50                        rooms: 1
Peppers Clearwater Resort                              max capacity:  200                        rooms: 4
Sudima Hotel Christchurch Airport                   max capacity:   300                       rooms: 6
The Classic Villa                                               max capacity: 30                           rooms: 2
Copthorne Commodore Christchurch Airport   max capacity: 250                         rooms: 7
   

Tuesday 28 February 2012
Heartland Hotel Cotswold announces the opening of The Marlowe Room for conferences.It can cater for 50 PAX Theatre style or re-arranged to work for Board Meetings or for smaller more informal gatherings.

Thursday 18 August 2011
Crowne Plaza Christchurch is to be demolished.
It has been confirmed that the hotel will not be rebuilt primarily due to rising construction costs resulting from changes to the Christchurch building codes.

Christchurch Update
Friday 17 June, 2011
Scenic Suites Christchurch:
Earthquake update:  The Scenic Suites Christchurch building is within the central city and remains closed for bookings until advised otherwise.

Heartland Hotel Cotswold:
Earthquake update: Currently, we have no conference room availability at Heartland Hotel Cotswold. However, we are monitoring this as this status may alter in the future. We will communicate with you when the situation changes.

The Chateau on the Park
We are open for business with all of our conference rooms fully operational as is the Garden Court Brasserie and all of our 192 accommodation rooms.

Mona Vale Homestead
Mona Vale Homestead sustained considerable structural damage in the recent Christchurch Earthquake of 22 February 2011, which caused the building to be closed. However, as recently as 24 March, engineers and architects have begun work on developing the restoration of this heritage site and venue manager – Continental – have advised that they are looking forward to reopening Mona Vale as a beautifully appointed venue, again to be ideal for conferences, banquets and celebrations. Dates for reopening are to still to be announced.

Click here for further information.


The George
We are OPEN for business and offering full service in both our restaurants, 50 on Park for all day dining and Pescatore will reopen on Tuesday 29th March for evening dining. Our conference venues are all open and we are looking after meetings and conferences fully.

The George is sited beside Hagley Park on the edge of the city and we were most fortunate in not sustaining any structural damage. Access at this time is from Montreal Street travelling north, left into Cashel Street and right into Rolleston Avenue into The George.

Please click here for further information.


VBASE Venues Update
Tuesday, 9th August 2011
Engineers for the Christchurch City Council are recommending the earthquake-damaged Christchurch Convention Centre and the Hadlee Stand at AMI Stadium be demolished, as evaluations progress at AMI Stadium, the Christchurch Town Hall for the Performing Arts and the Christchurch Convention Centre.

Final decisions on the future of the facilities will not be made until the assessments have been completed, peer reviewed and the outcomes agreed with insurers. An update this morning to the Council from structural and geotechnical engineers gave some indications of what those outcomes might include. They indicated the Christchurch Convention Centre and the Hadlee Stand at AMI Stadium had suffered severe damage. They are recommending demolition of these two buildings, however more time is required to complete assessments at all three event facilities.

Councillor Sue Wells says the assessment process is a huge undertaking and it is likely to be some months before decisions are made.

“The Council is working closely with insurers as these evaluations progress, and while our engineers have indicated their recommendations for some of the buildings involved, decisions on the future of the facilities are still some months away.

“I understand that our community is eager to find out more about the future of our event facilities and we want to ensure they are part of the process of moving our city forward. We have promised to keep residents informed as the work progresses and these latest reports have only been viewed by the Council this morning. We will continue to provide the very latest updates to the community as soon as the information becomes available.”

Today’s update outlined the lastest information on the three facilities:

AMI Stadium

• The Hadlee Stand has suffered severe earthquake damage and engineers for the Council are recommending it be demolished.

• Re-levelling and other repairs are required on the Tui Stand at the southern end of the stadium.

• More work is required to establish the best outcomes for the Paul Kelly Stand and the Deans Stand. Both have dropped around 300-400mm as a result of the earthquakes. The floors of both stands are uneven, with the floor height of the Paul Kelly Stand varying up to 70mm and the floor height of the Deans Stand varying up to 300mm. Engineers are still working to establish what the most appropriate repair method would be. One method of repair, if it is possible, could require driving piles down 25 metres to reach solid ground.

• Assessments on what is required to repair the turf and associated stormwater and irrigation are ongoing.

Cr Wells says the scale of the re-levelling required on the Tui, Paul Kelly and Deans stands has never been undertaken before in New Zealand and is rare around the world. “Engineers are working now to determine the best method of repair and to establish the costs involved,” she says.

“In the meantime the Council is still working with the Canterbury Rugby Football Union on finding an alternative home for rugby in Christchurch. At this stage we can confirm that the stadium will not be available for the 2012 season and we will continue working with everyone involved.”

Once the engineering assessments have been completed, peer reviewed and costed, negotiations with insurers will be able to be progressed. These full reports are expected to be presented to the Council in October.

Christchurch Convention Centre

Engineers for the Council believe the Christchurch Convention Centre has suffered so much damage that it should be demolished. The outcome for the building has not yet been settled with insurers but discussions are progressing and an agreement expected soon.

Christchurch Town Hall for the Performing Arts

The main damage to the Town Hall has been caused by land movement rather than structural problems as a result of shaking during the earthquake. The ground has settled and lateral spread has shifted the foundations of the building, with some parts of the building moving 150mm toward the river. The level of the floor in the auditorium now varies by up to 450mm.

Assessments into what is required to repair the building are ongoing, with outcomes expected in November this year.

For more information contact:
Communications Manager Diane Keenan
027 235 3711


Shipleys Audiovisual
We are up and running from our homes around the city and have new premises sourced which we are hoping to be in within the next couple of weeks.
We are operating as usual - give us a call on the usual number 03 379 5166 and we will help in any way we can.
Click here for further information.

Peppers Clearwater Resort Christchurch 
Lucky to escape with minimal damage and is open for business. For any enquires about bookings please call NZ 0800 275 373 or Aus 1300 737 444
Click here for further information.

Millennium Hotels and Resorts
Currently the Christchurch CBD,contained by the 'four avenues', is cordoned off by police to allow the emergency response teams to conduct their rescue efforts without disruption. In the interest of personal safety, access is not allowed for the general public at this time.

Millennium Hotel Christchurch, Copthorne Hotel Christchurch Central and Copthorne Hotel Christchurch City (formerly Copthorne Hotel Durham Street) are all situated inside the cordon and as a result we are presently unable to gain access to the hotels.

At such time as the hotels have been cleared for our safe re-entry, our priorities will be to collect items belonging to our affected guests and staff and sending these to them. We will then seek to commence any repairs should they be required, and look to re-open the hotels as soon as possible once we are certain that there are effective utilities and access ways available.

We have not yet received a clear indication as to when we can expect to gain initial access to inspect the hotels. However it would be reasonable to assume that we will not be allowed to access the area until the end of March at the earliest. For this reason we are advising all guests holding reservations up to 31 March 2011 with our three inner-city hotels, to make alternate arrangements.

Millennium Hotels and Resorts New Zealand's National Christchurch based conference and incentives team are back at work despite last week's devastating earthquake. The team, Alison Rogers, Sheila Anstiss, Maxine Hale and Anne McAulay all came through the magnitude 6.3 quake unharmed but have been forced out of their offices in the Millennium Hotel Christchurch because it is within the cordoned central business district. They are now working from temporary offices at the Copthorne Commodore Hotel Christchurch Airport and can assist with all business tourism enquiries. Next week the team are moving to a larger office space in Wattle Avenue.

Telephone: - 0800 4 63 3846. Alison's Mobile is 027 52207263

Emails:
Alison.rogers@millenniumhotels.co.nz  
Sheila.anstiss@millenniumhotels.co.nz  


Heritage Christchurch
The CBD where Heritage Christchurch is situated has been cordoned off until further notice. Like many other businesses inside the CBD cordon, the extent of building damage and a formal date for a return to trading are tentative. Bookings for the hotel will be available provisionally from the 4th of April.

If you have existing bookings for Heritage Christchurch in the next weeks, you can cancel without penalty by calling our Central Reservations line on 0800 36 88 88 in New Zealand or 1 800 141 780 from Australia. Or alternatively email res@heritagehotels.co.nz

Regular updates on the Heritage Christchurch status are on the website www.heritagehotels.co.nz
 
The Southern hotels continue to operate including nearby Heritage Hanmer Springs and Akaroa Cottages. Heritage Queenstown and Rutherford Nelson are also working through bookings for the many visitors disrupted from their original holiday itineraries.

Venues and Services within Canterbury Region