Hope you don’t have an art attack.
Queenstown’s council confirms a large artwork along the controversial CBD arterial route — comprising 19 etched precast concrete panels —
cost $395,236.
The panels, on a retaining wall between Melbourne and Beetham Sts, below St Joseph’s School, were installed late last year.
The Māori artwork, whose creators include renowned Kiwi singer-songwriter Marlon Williams, comprises intricate designs and phrases referencing local places of significance to Ngāi Tahu.
The cost of manufacturing the panels in Christchurch, including transporting them down, was $265,198 plus GST.
The artwork, including sandblasting on to the panels, was $93,185 plus GST.
And the cost of installation — which involved craning them delicately into position — was $36,853 plus GST.
For those with concerns at the cost, however, it continues to become a smaller percentage of the total cost of the stage one arterial route — aka ‘the road to nowhere’ — every time it goes up.
Last month, councillors approved another $16.65 million cost increase, taking the total budget to $128.02m — of which Crown Infrastructure Partners has provided $50m, thanks to the last government’s shovel-ready funding in response to Covid.
