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the portsmouth city council officer responsible for the city's answer to the sydney opera house got stuck in a lift today as the new landmark finally opened to the public, five years late and more than £10 million over budget.
the 558ft (170m) spinnaker tower was originally known as the millennium tower and had been meant to welcome in the 21st century. but a series of lengthy contractual problems and technical hitches delayed its opening by half a decade and landed local taxpayers with a hefty bill.
after missing the lucrative summer season, the tower finally opened at 10am today, only for its external glass lift to get stuck 30ft from the ground. inside was david greenhalgh, portsmouth city council's project manager.
abseiling engineers were called in to fix the lift and release the unfortunate official. "there was a technical hitch," said karen baron, a spokeswoman for the tower's operators, heritage.
"the lift stopped about 10 metres up for about one and a half hours but the engineers have freed it and it is working again.
"it hasn’t spoilt the day: the queues are moving quickly as people use the internal lift and there are a lot of smiling faces. it is unfortunate but it’s not a huge surprise. lifts need bedding in, they are not entirely reliable."
the faulty glass lift, which operates in addition to an internal one, had already caused the opening of the tower to be delayed since august.
portsmouth city council was criticised by the audit commission for the handling of the tower project, particularly in organising contracts with the developers. mike hancock, liberal democrat mp for portsmouth south, said the tower stood as an "icon to municipal incompetence and blundering".
he added that it should act as a warning to other local authorities of the financial dangers of embarking on such large-scale projects. the tower was not meant to have cost local council tax payers any money but so far portsmouth city council has paid £11.1 million towards the construction.
the millennium commission provided £15 million for the project, with £5.8 million coming from original contractor berkeley homes and another £2.7 million of contributions in kind.
mr hancock said that the project had been badly managed by portsmouth city council which should have dropped it when berkeley homes pulled out, stating that the project was not financially viable.
mr hancock, who is a member of the city council, added: "it is a wonderful structure with a magnificent view and i am full of admiration for it. but it is an icon of municipal incompetence and blundering - it should never have been built in the first place.
"berkeley homes gave us £3 million to walk away, they said it wasn’t financially viable. when you get that sort of advice, that’s when the council should have called a halt to it."
the times
