“In engaging AECOM for the permanent role, Stewart Brown, the council’s Manager for Arts and Culture noted, “AECOM has already established some excellent systems and processes for managing the Sir Howard Morrison Centre project. The depth of their team, experience working with councils, combined project management experience and established relationships will be critical to the project’s success.”
Work on seismic strengthening and refurbishment of the Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre is expected to start in the first half of 2019 following detailed design work now underway. The category one heritage building had to be closed last November when a seismic assessment identified it was earthquake prone. This coincided with the completion of a detailed business case for a refurbishment to optimise the use of the venue, following community engagement and consultation. The project scope includes earthquake strengthening and has the added complexity of being situated in a geothermal area. When completed, the building will be an asset for the local Rotorua community and for New Zealand’s performing arts industry.
AECOM was initially engaged to provide interim Project Management services for the first three months of the project. Following a competitive process, the council appointed AECOM as Project Manager for the design, procurement, construction and handover phases of the project. This includes project planning, stakeholder management and client representation.