Kent Summerfield: Te Kaha Project Director on the progress of the stadium

Christchurch's new stadium is slowly taking shape.  

Construction of the $683 million Te Kaha stadium is on schedule and within budget – set to open in April next year. 

Mayor Phil Mauger admits he's uncertain about parking but emphasises there will be public transport and foot traffic access. 

Te Kaha Project Director Kent Summerfield told Mike Hosking the roof is well and truly on, and cladding is underway. 

He says it's becoming a landmark in the city as it can be seen from quite a distance away. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is seven away from a Christied Stadium, having a
bit of a pr push. At the moment, we've got
a year ago project remains on time and on budget.
We got twenty eight hundred people having worked on it.
The project director was Kent Summerfield. Who's Wether's Kent morning?
Good morning, Benaja. Have you been there from day one?

Speaker 2 (00:16):
I've been there for about five years now, so yeah,
I joined about a year and a half before we
got on site.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
How's it been as a journey?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Look really good. I think we've got a fantastic team,
an excellent contractor V six Watpeck out of Australia who
have some really invaluable experience in the space. And yeah,
they work really well with our client side team to
keep things moving along.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
I've seen I assume most of us have seen the
pictures over the last twenty four hours or so. Does
it feel close or have we still got a lot
of work to do?

Speaker 2 (00:59):
I think certainly for the public they can see it
physically taking shape, obviously the roof well and truly on
there and the clearing occurring brus As a project team,
we're conscious that there's still a lot of work to
do over the next twelve months, but it is very
much getting real. The turf being grown off site now,

(01:22):
so all of those final bits of the puzzle are
well and truly in planning. It's not occurring now, so
it's getting close, and yeah, it is very exciting in situ.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
It seems to fit beautifully, doesn't it. It's like ideally
located and when you see it, it's like that that
makes sense, doesn't it.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
It does. Yeah, I think there's a lot of debate
initially around the positioning, but now it is going up
and people can see it and it becomes a real
landmark around the city because you can see it from
quite a distant way. Obviously it stands out on the skyline.
So yeah, I think it'll be a reference point for

(02:07):
every run in the future.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
Fantastic. Well, go well with it and keep it to
time and budget. Kent Kent Summerfield, who's the project director
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