Upgrading Alexandra’s Molyneux Stadium to a safe seismic standard and extending its life by 30 years would cost $5.6 million, compared to demolishing and building a new one for $15 million.

But the Vincent Community Board agreed last week, before it could push on with a staged investment over the next nine years, it had to wait on the outcome of the districtisation discussion by the Central Otago District Council (CODC) first.

CODC would be making a decision at its next meeting in two weeks, on whether a district-wide approach should be adopted for services across all of the wards (Vincent, Cromwell, Maniototo and Teviot).

Council’s property officer Tara Bates confirmed the Molyneux building was still considered good/moderate according to a recent building condition assessment report, and there had already been $1.2 million budgeted for maintenance work in the draft Long Term Plan (2025-34).

A further $4.43 million had also been budgeted for out of the Vincent Community Board Reserves for earthquake strengthening, asbestos removal, fire safety and accessibility compliance work in 2027-2028.

Molyneux Stadium is a highly utilised community facility by many different sporting codes, but a detailed seismic assessment rated it under 20 per cent of the new build standard, making it a very high risk in an earthquake.

The report said asbestos was found in various parts of the building, and this would need to be removed before the seismic work began.

The building also lacked adequate accommodation for people with disabilities, which meant modifications were required and the fire safety systems upgraded with new alarms, lighting and a sprinkler system.