The making of Christchurch’s glitzy new stadium: How much it cost, why it took 15 years and the key figures behind it

Thursday, 23 April 2026

When Christchurch’s glitzy new indoor stadium finally got the go-ahead at a make or break council meeting in July 2022 the emotion was palpable.

Stadium boss, Venues Ōtautahi chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare, had tears in her eyes. Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge let out a huge sigh of relief. Others in the room clapped and roared with excitement as city councillors voted 13-3 to push on with the hotly debated project after more than six hours of discussion.

Fourteen years after first being proposed as part of Christchurch’s central city recovery in 2012, the One New Zealand Stadium doors will officially open on Friday for its first event.

A 25,000 sell-out crowd will watch with anticipation as the Crusaders christen the state-of-the-art $683m multi-purpose venue against the Waratahs. About 75,000 fans are expected to attend Super Rugby’s ‘Super Round’, featuring five games over three days, this weekend at the stadium.

The journey to the stadium’s first event has been a long one fraught with challenges. There were multiple times when it seemed the ambitious idea would fall over amid delays, soaring costs, and political wrangling. But, it has opened on time and on budget.

Plans for a central city indoor stadium developed after the 2011 earthquakes, which caused extensive damage to AMI Stadium, formerly Lancaster Park – the long-time home of Canterbury rugby and cricket. The spiritual home of Canterbury sport closed permanently after the earthquakes and was demolished between 2018 and 2019.

After years of fierce debate, a July 2022 council meeting shaped as a defining moment – to commit another $150 million, which would bump rates up and take the city closer to its debt limits.

Earlier that year the stadium was heavily criticised by some city councillors over a lack of environmental sustainability.

Nearly 30,000 public submissions were received on the beleaguered stadium project in 2022. Submitters who wanted the project stopped altogether said the city was in a period of increased financial uncertainty and hardship. Now was not the time to undertake such a large project.

There was no shortage of suspense as a decision loomed at the pivotal meeting. After six hours of intense discussion, the stadium got the green light with the budget increasing by $150 million to $683m.

“I was sitting next to Colin [Mansbridge], the chief executive of the Crusaders, and we were vote by vote certainly on the edge of our seat,” Harvie-Teare recalled.

“I wasn’t confident, but I think collectively it was a bold decision, but the right one in my eyes.”

According to Christchurch City Council statistics almost 4000 people worked on the project over the last three years, putting in around 2.4 million collective work hours.

The stadium is made up of about 32,700 cubic metres of concrete, approximately 16,400 tonnes of steel, 122,000 bolts, 600km of cabling, 5km of air-conditioning ducting, 22,000 sheets of drywall, 11,500 square metres of steel sheeting, and 1,100 panes of glass. Around 13,000 plants are included in the stadium precinct.

Construction involved the installation of more than 80 steel roof modules, each weighing over 75 tonnes. The heaviest module weighed 160 tonnes and required the largest crane in the country, a 1200-tonne crawler, to install.

The Crown contributed $230 million towards the $683 million project, as well as the land for the stadium site.

Construction started in 2022 with the council’s ‘Te Kaha delivery team’ and lead contractor BESIX Watpac at the helm.

Labour MP Megan Woods remarked at the blessing and soil-turning in April 2022 the idea of Canterbury without a permanent sports stadium “is a bit like a pub with no beer”.

Christchurch’s indoor stadium will provide guests with all the amenities of the finest sports and entertainment cauldrons in the world. There will be 23 hospitality suites at the stadium each accommodating 20 to 60 guests, while a function room allows for up to 900 people. The food offerings are extensive with 32 food and beverage vendors, ranging from pizza, burgers, hotdogs and pies to slow-cooked barbecue and Korean fried chicken.

The stadium can host 15 concerts per year under its resource consent and is designed to host over 200 events annually. It is expected to attract 500,000 attendees each year.

Thrive Investment Partners project the stadium will inject about $50 million annually into the wider Canterbury region’s economy.

“It will do the things venues do, but on a grander scale – social, cultural, and economic impact. From a social and cultural perspective it really does change the event landscape here,” Harvie-Teare, a proud born-and-bred Cantabrian, said.

“It will bring vibrancy and major events. It will bring a real sense of pride in the city and it will mean a lot of members of our community won’t have to pack their bags and go elsewhere to see those big events.”

Harvie-Teare again teared up when the turnstiles opened for the first test event at the stadium, a Warriors’ watch party of their game in Australia. Each time she had been inside the stadium she had appreciated a different facet and described it as coliseum-like.

“The one thing that really strikes me is it’s so grand in terms of its scale, but so intimate in terms of its feeling. When you’re in there, you’re so close to the action, you’re right up against the sideline. You can almost see the eyeballs of the person in the stand across from you.”

Mansbridge, who has been Crusaders CEO since late 2018, said the temporary Apollo Projects Stadium in Addington had been a saviour for the team after the earthquakes, giving them a much-needed home. Special memories had been forged there, including the team’s four title wins at the venue, but One New Zealand Stadium was in another stratosphere and would give fans the viewing comforts they deserved.

“It’s purpose-built and it feels like it’s been purpose-built for us for our region,” he said.

“No matter what square field code is being played punters will be so close to the action. They’re going to feel like they’re almost playing the game. A lot of the modern stadiums are like that, but this one feels more intimate. This thing feels very cathedral-like when you walk in.”

Former All Blacks prop Wyatt Crockett, the most capped Crusader in history (202 games), will drive down from Nelson with wife Jenna and sons, Sonny and Emmett, for opening night. The Crusaders have invited their alumni to attend the game and soak up the milestone moment.

Crockett regularly dealt with the wind and rain at AMI Stadium and later Apollo Projects and said the inner city venue would be a world away.

“I’ve seen a couple of videos from the inside, but I’ve sort of held myself back from looking too much into it. I just can’t wait to step inside it for the first time,” he said.

“It’s going to be such an amazing facility for the whole of the South Island, all of the events that are going to come with it. Looking forward to watching many Crusaders and All Blacks and music concerts there in the future.”

For a region, who had endured so much through the earthquakes, Mansbridge said Friday night and the weekend’s ‘Super Round’ was an opportunity for Cantabrians to celebrate and acknowledge all they had experienced. The stadium represented a new dawn and symbolised a beacon of hope for the future.

“I think people are going to really be quite emotional when they see the team run out, when they hear the music, when they see everyone so excited to be there. It’s what these places are all about – people going to live sport, live concerts, live things.

“You just can’t get those experiences. Once people [witness the stadium] they’ll realise how resilient and how tough they’ve been in the last 10 years.”