The final ground floor concrete has been poured at the Ashburton District Council’s new library and civic building and the contractors say it is another milestone in the life of the community facility.

Naylor Love Canterbury Regional Director Graeme Earl said the final ground floor slab and concreting around heritage Pioneer Hall was now complete.

“The pour around the historic hall went smoothly, with optimal curing conditions on the day. The pouring of the main building’s ground floor slabs is an exciting milestone and it’s great to be fully out of the ground.”

Mr Earl said more elements of the superstructure were being progressed, including structural steel and LVL beams and roof members.

“We’ll also continue to install the Potius floor units and work on in-ground services like stormwater.”

Councillors and senior staff visited the building site last week to see progress on the building, which has been gifted the Maori names Te Pātaka o kā Tuhituhi (library) and Te Waharoa a Hine Paaka (civic building).

Mayor Neil Brown said the sheer size and scale of the building was impressive.

“It’s a hive of activity there at the moment and the finished building will certainly be something to be proud of. It will house a thoroughly modern library and have room for all Council’s staff and services.”

Mayor Brown said Council was keeping a close eye on the details and timeframe of the build, which had the potential to be affected by supply chain issues caused by the global pandemic interrupting freight shipping networks.

“It could be that the completion date is pushed out by a month or two to early 2023, but we are hoping that’s not the case.”