Ōtepoti Dunedin (Tuesday, 18 March 2025) – Geotechnical investigative work is set to start as part of a structural assessment of the Municipal Chambers and Town Hall building complex.

A drilling rig will be in place in the Octagon and at Harrop Street from today to dig two 30m deep boreholes in order to collect underground samples and analyse its structure and condition. There will be some noise associated with this work.

The ground samples will provide crucial information to help create digital models and assess the durability of the buildings in different earthquake scenarios using virtual computer simulations.

The first borehole will be drilled in Harrop Street and will take approximately two days to complete.

This will not affect use of the Harrop Street carpark, however there will be no pedestrian access to Harrop Street while the work is underway.

The second borehole will be drilled outside the Municipal Chambers building in the Octagon. A traffic management plan will be in place during this time, and alternative vehicle parking will be temporarily located around the corner in George Street. Pedestrians will still be able to access Municipal Lane while the work is underway.

The geotechnical work is expected to be complete by Friday 21 March (depending on ground conditions). This is part of the Dunedin City Council’s planned multi-year restoration of the Heritage 1 category listed Municipal Chambers building, which is the only substantial town hall of the Victorian period remaining in New Zealand still serving a municipal purpose. Consultants have worked to identify the areas of work and have developed a plan in keeping with the building’s heritage status and traditional building practices.

The work will involve the restoration of the four roof top pavilions, the clocktower and slate-tiled roof, before moving onto the Town Hall which is a Category 2 listed Heritage building.

A structural assessment will also be completed alongside the heritage restoration project to better understand the building’s composition and stability in different scenarios and to help inform plans for any strengthening work.

The programme will use local craftspeople, such as stone masons, slaters, and lead-workers to complete the specialised work involved with restoring a building of this age.

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