Miscalculations and cost blowouts mean Wellingtonians will be paying a third of a billion dollars to rebuild the town hall in New Zealand's capital.
On Wednesday, councillors voted to increase the budget for the civic centre and music venue's rebuild, which was damaged a 2013 earthquake.
The damage bill was first estimated at $NZ43 million ($A40 million), and revised upwards periodically in the decade since.
With almost $NZ182 million ($A167 million) spent already, councillors opted to budget another $NZ147 million ($A135 million) to finish the project - taking the overall budget to a cringe-inducing $NZ330 million ($A304 million).
Councillor Rebecca Matthews summed up the mood with a post on social media stating: "Please find me a way back machine to avoid this s*** show".
"Feeling despondent reading papers on the town hall. Such limited options to spending all this money on a building that would never be built today when there are so many other more important things to do," she said.
Councillors were told that even demolition - unlikely to be possible due to heritage protection - would have costed an additional $NZ40 million ($A37 million).
The project will be funded by debt-raising, with ratepayers already slugged with a 12.3 per cent increase this year.
The town hall is emblematic of construction woes in Wellington, which sits on a major fault line and requires buildings to meet strict strengthening regulations.
Major buildings are often inspected and reclassified as in need of strengthening, which can lead to them being vacated or given deadlines to complete work.
The NZ government maintains a register of earthquake-prone buildings, which features dozens of entries across the capital including the main train station, apartment blocks and office buildings.
There are also concerns Wellington's other major music venue - the Michael Fowler centre, on the same block of the town hall - could require expensive strengthening works.
Despite the bungled rebuild, the town hall is much loved by Wellingtonians.
First built in 1904, a 50-metre high clock tower was added in the 1920s, but removed a decade later for fears of a major earthquake following the Hawke's Bay earthquake which devastated Napier in 1931.
It has hosted some of music's most loved artists in the 50 years until its closure: The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Joni Mitchell, The Seekers, Talking Heads, Morrissey, Nick Cave, Rage Against The Machine, and Sinead O'Connor have all performed at the venue.
