Pandemic blamed as cost of Wolverhampton Civic Halls revamp to rise again
The budget for the long-awaited revamp of Wolverhampton's Civic Halls is set to rise yet again, with council bosses blaming the impact of the coronavirus crisis for the latest increase.
The iconic city centre venue has been shut for more than three years as part of an extensive refurbishment which has been hit by a series of delays, while costs have also mounted.
It was initially due to cost around £10 million before the budget soared to £38.1m last year.
It has now emerged that the bill is set to rise again.
The updated cost of the work is being kept under wraps by Wolverhampton Council for the time being. Opposition councillors have demanded to know what the new figure will be.
Council leader Ian Brookfield said no-one could have predicted the impact of the pandemic.
An item entitled 'Civic Halls Restoration Budget Increase' has been included on the authority's forward plan with a decision due by next Tuesday.
Officials have been asked "to approve an increase to the budget and to delegate authority to approve the award of the construction contract".
Further details are not provided at the item is marked as exempt.
More Covid-19 coverage:
The Civic Halls project is now flagged as a 'red' risk, having been moved up the traffic light-style scale from amber
A report said: "The score of this risk has increased from amber to red as the project on site is currently paused due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic."
The Civic closed in 2017 before opening for a short period at the end of that year to host showpiece events. It then shut again at the start of 2018 and is not expected to reopen until next year.
Work on the halls ground to a halt last year when contractor Shaylor Group went bust. A new builder, Willmott Dixon, was subsequently brought on board to continue the job, before the coronavirus pandemic added further complications. When it eventually does reopen it will be run by an external operator.
Mistakes
Council bosses have previously admitted to mistakes over the long-running Civic Halls revamp.
A refurbishment expected to cost £10.4 million became an almost complete rebuild of the inside at a cost of £38.1m when it emerged initial surveys had failed to reveal the extent of structural damage.
Conservative councillor Jonathan Yardley, who is also vice chair of the authority’s audit and risk committee, said: “I have long been concerned by the Civic Halls refurbishment and am left incredibly disappointed to see that yet again a budget increase is being asked for.
“While the refurbishment of the halls is an important part of the city centre regeneration this latest budget increase is another addition to the catalogue of errors which have plagued this project.
“The Covid-19 crisis will undoubtedly have had an impact on this project and others, but it should not be used as cover for continuing failures. Projects of this nature have contingency funds built in and although it would not have been expected that it would be needed for this reason, it is at the end of the day the very reason for such a fund."
Council leader Ian Brookfield, said: “No-one could have foreseen the impact of Covid-19 and we, like councils up and down the country, will not know for a long time what the true cost will be for all our major capital projects.
“We are working hard with contractor, Willmott Dixon Interiors, to mitigate against the extra risks the pandemic is causing, and an independent risk analysis tells us the request for a budget increase is the sensible thing to do as it will provide a safety net against any extra financial pressures that could ensue while working under central Government guidance.
“The original contingency built into the project is there to mitigate against already identified risks when working on a Grade-II listed building that is 82 years old.
“We should remember that, prior to Covid-19 hitting, the Civic Halls project was running on schedule and on budget despite the blow of the previous contractor going out of business through no fault of our own.
“Like many other construction projects across the country we have been forced to pause works to - first and foremost - protect workers’ health and safety.
