Skyline Queenstown’s ticking off major milestones in one of the resort’s biggest and most challenging building projects.
Ahead of a new gondola cableway being installed early next winter, featuring 10-seater cabins replacing late-’80s four-seaters, work’s started on new top and bottom terminals, work on a 400-space carpark begins next month and the last stage of a Bob’s Peak tree-clearing exercise starts next week.
Foundations for new gondola towers, also going in next winter, are already in place.
The $250 million project also includes a new restaurant and viewing deck, but that’s still to be scheduled.
Till now, tree clearance 90 metres either side of the new gondola has been the project’s most visible feature.
The fifth, final and most challenging stage will be largely complete by end of the year.
‘‘From town, when it’s completed, it will be more like a concentric diamond shape,’’ Skyline Enterprises CEO Geoff McDonald says.
Development GM Steve McLean suggests it’s ‘‘probably one of the most difficult forestry contracts going on at the moment in New Zealand’’.
On a geologist’s advice, bluffs also had to be rock-bolted.
Now also visible from town is the steel structure for the gondola top terminal, which is 80 to 90% in place.
McDonald says some call it ‘‘a big steel monstrosity’’, but to meet seismic rating on the hill it has to be 1.7 times stronger that if it were downtown.
In recent works, steel work’s also started for the new bottom terminal, which will be built over the existing one.
McLean says builder Naylor Love is working closely with gondola installer Doppelmayr on both structures.
While the top one will be ready when the new cableway opens, about July 2 next year — after the old one shuts down on May 23 — the bottom terminal will finish about September.
Meantime, a huge rock cut, to allow for the four-level carpark building, finishes this week.
Piling starts mid-next month to kick off a 12-month build.
McLean says building challenges include the steep hill ‘‘and the fact we’re constructing it around an operating business’’.
‘‘Health and safety is obviously paramount with the number of people on the hill.
‘‘There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of very engaged people making sure it happens.’’
McDonald adds rising building costs are “a real challenge”, though some materials were pre-procured.
While Skyline’s yet to schedule the new restaurant facility, he says it needs to be replaced by 2035 as the current one doesn’t meet
earthquake code.
To keep the business going, a smaller facility will first be built next to it that’ll then join up with the new build.
