28 September 2010
Stadium insurance claim accepted
The Stadium Southland rebuild has been accelerated following confirmation today its insurance claim has been accepted by NZI – in just six working days.
Jo Mason, Acting General Manager of NZI, travelled to Invercargill to visit the collapsed Surrey Park complex – and unexpectedly announced she would return clutching a cheque for between $20-$25 million.
“I didn’t actually come down here expecting to bring such good news … I only got the message the claim had been accepted when I got off the plane,” Ms Mason said.
“And we’re very delighted to say that we’ve done that in six days … my team has worked very hard to deliver this result for the people of Southland.
“We were very keen for the people of Southland to be able to move on … it’s very important for them to have that certainty going forward. The people who use this facility need to know that it’s going to be rebuilt.”
Southland Indoor Leisure Centre Charitable Trust chairman Acton Smith said it was “brilliant news”.
“It means we can start tomorrow and we are starting tomorrow with plans for the rebuild,” he said.
“We will end up with a brand new stadium and it will be right up there with the best anywhere in New Zealand.”
Ms Mason said while the cause of the collapse was still being investigated, NZI had no concerns.
“It’s all fine – we’ve accepted the claim and we’re very comfortable doing that,” she said.
Stadium Southland general manager Nigel Skelt said acceptance of the claim brought a degree of closure.
“It’s exhilarating to be fair,” he said. “But news we can move forward also brings reflection – it was Ray Harper’s dream to build the original stadium and we achieved that, now we have been given the chance to achieve the dream again.
“It really is Game On 2012.”
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