And finally, something is finished: It is not very often you see a company taking its metaphorical hat off to another company it is suing for a third of a billion dollars.

And yet, SkyCity chair Julian Cook and others at SkyCity did just that at the opening of the long-awaited New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC).

“When I started on the board, Fletcher’s was still in the process of stripping back post-fire,” Cook told OTM. Which was a really complex process of taking all the intumescent paint off the steel, reinforcing all the way through the building. So, just teams of people sandblasting up and down the thing, as well as just a very complex rebuild.”

Cook said it took years to work through the technical issues, and he took his hat off to Fletcher Construction for managing it. He also said the relationship between the two companies was “cordial”, despite recent court action.

“Yes, there’s a contractual dispute which will resolve one way or other, but the relationship with the guys who finished this project is good, I think.”

Fletcher Chief Executive Andrew Reding was even given the opportunity to speak at the opening, giving off the air of a recently freed hostage as he spoke.

“Please, SkyCity, look after it as well as you can,” Reding pleaded.

Auckland’s Mayor Wayne Brown also congratulated Fletcher’s, although he then somewhat undid his congratulatory message with an observation that the NZICC was opening in 2026 rather than 2020 due to a “rather strange selection of insulation materials, plus rather odd safety practices which New Zealand specialise in”.