Timeline clear for stadium

Will Johnston

There were hopes sport and events would return to Yarrow Stadium next year after repairs of the West Stand are underway.

When repair and refurbishment plans were announced in November, stadium owners, the Taranaki Regional Council, said they were hoping rugby would return to the venue next season.

Both stands at the venue were closed in November 2017 and June 2018 after they were deemed an earthquake risk. The West Stand could twist, buckle and the roof could snap off, while the East Stand could pancake in an earthquake.

Council chairman David MacLeod said it was a goal but ‘not an absolute’ when he announced the construction plans.

The timeline of the West Stand repair was made clear at a stadium walkthrough yesterday.

Council’s manager of corporate services Mike Nield told Radio New Zealand that it would not be ready for provincial rugby next year.

He said the West Stand was scheduled to be ready in October-November 2021 then it will be available for sports and events, with limited capacity until the East Stand is completed.

The timeline means the facility will be unavailable for a major tenant, Taranaki Rugby for next year’s national provincial championship.

The team will likely use TET Stadium in Inglewood, where it played all of its five home games this season. It would not return to the stadium until the season of 2022.

Central Football will also need to look elsewhere. The venue was used for a handful of New Plymouth Rangers Federation League matches and club finals this year.

Clelands Construction was granted the $12million contract to repair the West Stand, which is a complex job.

Its 4000 seats were already removed and corporate suites strengthened in the first phase of the project.

Work will then involve driving piles in front of the stand to stop it sliding onto the field.

Then, the concrete will be taken off the earth ramp, where it lies, for further strength work underneath before it’s put together again.

“That stand has been put together like a jigsaw puzzle, so the actual seating is in concrete pins, so you can pop them off do some work and put them back together again. What you see is today is what you’ll get afterwards,” MacLeod said.  

Work on the demolition of the East Stand will start in the New Year, which will be a three-four-year project.

LED lights will also be fitted on the stadium’s four light towers before the field is replaced.

The entire project should be completed in 2024/25 with it costing $50 million.

CAPTION: The West Stand's 4,000 seats on the field after being removed (Yarrow Stadium Facebook page)