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Work gearing up on a safer Downtown Car Park for New Plymouth

Featured news Local
PUBLISHED: 13 MAR 2024

Work is ramping up on getting New Plymouth’s earthquake-prone Downtown Car Park reopened by Christmas.​

But the public won’t see much action from the outside as almost all the work to strengthen the 37-year-old building will be on the inside.​

This includes new steel supports for the pre-cast concrete floors, vehicle barriers along the outside walls, a new lift and a new parking system.​

The project, with a budget of about $4.4 million, will restore about 270 leased and casual parking spaces to the city centre when it’s finished late this year.​

“A contractor has been scanning the concrete columns, so we know where to drill without damaging the reinforcing steel and we’ll start to attach the steel supports this month,” said NPDC Manager Infrastructure Projects Andrew Barron.​

“The city is our district’s commercial, cultural and retail hub and the work means it will continue to support businesses by increasing available parking.”​

Caption: NPDC Senior Infrastructure Project Manager Joel Richardson checks the proposed drilling points on a column in the Downtown Car Park.

Fast facts:

  • The Downtown Car Park, on Powderham Street, is a seven-level building, with 14 split levels, built in 1987.
  • It has been closed since December 2020.