The Ministry of Health has awarded the site clearance and demolition works contract for the New Dunedin Hospital to Ceres New Zealand LLC, Health Minister Dr David Clark says.
"It's great to have Ceres NZ on board the project. They have decades' worth of experience working on large demolition projects and they played a key role supporting the Christchurch rebuild," David Clark said.
"By New Zealand standards this is a large and complex project. The nature of the site requires consideration of a range of issues, including traffic management and safety, impact on neighbouring properties and businesses, disconnecting and re-routing on-site utilities and removal of hazardous materials such as asbestos.
"I'm pleased we now have Ceres NZ ready and set to get on with this crucial and substantial work toward our new hospital very soon," David Clark said.
Starting with around 15 workers, the Ceres NZ team will increase to 40 personnel at the peak of demolition works. Most of the workforce will be sourced locally.
Staged demolition works will begin in February and may take up to 12 to 18 months.
Ceres NZ will start demolishing the Cadbury distribution warehouse in late February or early March 2020. This will be followed by stripping out the inside of all the Cadbury buildings.
Demolition works are then expected to commence on the Ministry-owned buildings on the southern part of the Wilson's site, followed by demolition of the Cadbury site subject to resource and heritage consents.
In other project areas, the Wilson's parking site acquisition has now been completed.
The design team, led by architects Warren and Mahoney, are continuing to test new options as part of the design process.
An important part of this is ensuring the building integrates well with the urban landscape of Dunedin's CBD.
