Rebuilding of New Plymouth’s Yarrow Stadium reported as being ‘on track and within budget’

The nearly $80 million redevelopment of Yarrow Stadium is progressing within budget and on time, according to Taranaki Regional Council Corporate Services Director Mike Nield.

The rebuild of the New Plymouth venue’s east stand in order to bring it up to contemporary earthquake-proof codes has been underway since 2020, with the budget for the redevelopment having been increased to $79.7 million from $70 million in July last year because of rising construction costs and inflation.

As reported by the Taranaki Daily News, of the total cost, $30 million has been secured from the New Zealand Government’s ‘shovel-ready scheme’ for post-pandemic rebuilding.

Advising the timeline and budget remained the same, Nield, who has overseen the project from its inception, told the Taranaki Daily News “the forecast is to remain within budget, too.

“Clelands (the builders) are doing a fantastic job.”

Noting that the focus for the new 1800-seat east stand had been on completing the steel superstructure, which started at the southern end of the site, Nield added “basically, it’s the bone structure of the stand to allow for everything to be built on top of that.”

Nield said the previous stand, which was the first to be deemed earthquake-prone at the end of 2017, was built to accommodate the main field, meaning it was expensive to open.

However, he advised that “the new design will be more flexible for those only wanting to use the back fields, and it can be opened in sections.”

Once complete, Nield wants the venue to “go after” big national and international events, going on to say “we want the stadium to be used by the full range, from community users to international events. It will be a quality facility that’s there to be used.”

Beyond completion of the stands, the precinct’s number two field is to be reinstated. However, there are no plans to match the field quality with the main ground, which includes a combination of grass and artificial.

The venue was partially reopened in September 2022 after the completion of work to demolish and rebuild its the west stand.

Images: Rugby at Yarrow Stadium as of last month (top), construction of the steel superstructure for the new 1800-seat east stand as of May 2024 (middle and below). Credit: Yarrow Stadium.