$50m Yarrow Stadium upgrade doesn’t stretch to new seats

PHOTO: West Stand seats have been stacked on the pitch while repairs are done. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin

When the $50 million upgrade of the quake-prone Yarrow Stadium is finished, Taranaki rugby fans will still be using seats installed at the turn of the century.

The Taranaki Regional Council, which owns the stadium, invited media to a site tour.

About 5000 plastic seats from the under-repair West Stand are stacked exposed to the elements on the pitch waiting to be reinstalled, alongside the concrete bleachers they are attached to.

Director of corporate services, Mike Nield, said the 4500 seats in the East Stand – where demolition work begins next week – would also be reused.

“The seats themselves are actually in good condition and they’ve still got life in them, so they’ll be reused and there was no consideration given to installing replacements at this stage.

“You’ll appreciate, the whole process is under a reasonably tight budget so where we can reuse and save money we’ll absolutely be taking those options.”

Nield said the West Stand seating fitted together like a giant jigsaw puzzle and the seats would get a good scrub up before being reinstalled.

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