Christchurch's Lancaster Park is "uneconomic to repair", mayor Lianne Dalziel has revealed.

The sports stadium was insured for $143 million and would cost between $255m and $275m to repair, she said on Thursday.

"The advice we are receiving is that it isn't economic to repair Lancaster Park. Even if we spent $100m more than it was insured for we'd still have a question mark over the costings."

DEON SWIGGS A stairwell has separated from the main structure at Christchurch's Lancaster Park.

She said the council would never be able to get a company to commit to a fixed price to repair the ground because of the uncertainty of what lay beneath the surface.

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"You'd find someone who'd say 'this is our best estimate, we're happy to take on the job as long as you are happy to keep sending the cheques' and that's the problem with the uncertainties that relate to the condition under the ​stadium."

DEON SWIGGS Damage to Christchurch's Lancaster Park.

Christchurch City Council would next week decide whether to ask staff to prepare a report on the park's demolition and the land's future use.

Dalziel said the demolition was likely to cost about $20m.

The future use of the land was restricted by the Lancaster Park Land Vesting Act 2008, which says the land could only be used for cricket, rugby union, and all other sports, recreation, public assembly and ancillary purposes. The land was to held in trust for those activities in commemoration of the Canterbury soldiers who died in World War I.

IAIN MCGREGOR/FAIRFAX NZ Lancaster Park has sat in limbo since the February 2011 earthquake.

"That has to be the future of the area," Dalziel said.

The council has spent most of this year completing detailed assessments of the stadium's structures and land to allow it to make an informed decision on the park's future.

Dalziel and city councillors visited the stadium on Wednesday to see the damage firsthand.

The Deans stand has slumped in places by up to 500 millimetres, the Paul Kelly stand by up to 300mm and the Tui stand by up to 460mm, a council staff report said.

"The earthquake damage was assessed to have left the structures and foundations with a loss of capacity, reduced performance and an uncertain future," the report said.

There was widespread and severe damage to the reinforced concrete in the main stands. Columns had cracked and the structures had "sustained permanent and irreversible strain".

The stadium was the subject of much wrangling between the council and its insurers. The insurer believed the stadium could be restored for less than $50m. The council argued it was damaged beyond repair.

Dalziel said on Thursday that $50m figure was a "ridiculous figure". The foundations alone would cost $50m to repair.

In December last year, the council announced it had reached a $635m global settlement with its insurers and in February it banked the money, opening the way for it to make a call on Lancaster Park's future. The payment settled more than 1600 individual claims lodged by the council. The Lancaster Park claim was one of the biggest.

The Government has identified a $470m stadium in central Christchurch as an anchor project. The stadium was originally expected to be completed in 2017. The council, which would contribute about $252m of the cost, has pushed out the stadium spending over three financial years to 2022/23 to 2024/25.

The proposed 35,000-seat multi-purpose arena was to be built between Madras, Barbadoes, Tuam and Cashel streets.

Canterbury Rugby Football Union (CRFU) chief executive Hamish Riach was at the announcement and said "it is what it is".

"We've been waiting for the council to get to the point they are now close to getting to, and at the end of the day if Lancaster Park is uneconomic to repair, that is an important step to make in a process to resolve the future needs of Christchurch," he said.

Riach commended the mayor on clarifying the current status of Lancaster Park, and keeping the CRFU included in ongoing conversations about future sporting venues in the city.

"We've always said the city should have a multi-purpose arena that any number of sports can use and enjoy, and that hasn't changed."



