Christchurch's Justice precinct finally opens

One of Christchurch biggest anchor projects has officially opened.

The 42,000 square metre facility will eventually be home to the city's 2000 Justice, Corrections, Police, Fire, Ambulance and Civil Defence staff.

Costing $300 million, it was expected to have opened earlier this year, but the projects been dogged with delays.

"It hasn't been an impact for us in terms of cost or operation of our current services we've been keen to get in here this is a fantastic building," Justice Minister Amy Adams says.

There are 19 new court rooms with the first trials scheduled to start in November.

Police Commissioner Mike Bush says they will move their staff in next February and the precinct will be more beneficial for the public, having emergency services all under the one roof.

"It means a real time saving for our people, connecting getting information in real time being able to talk to your partners immediately it means will be quicker, we'll have a more responsive service," he says.

The building is solid and secure with 133 base isolaters - if another quake was to strike the precinct it has the capacity to move 250mm side to side.

One of the key features of the precinct is an emergency operations centre that can operate for 72 hours off the grid, there's also the capacity to store a 100,000 litres of fresh water.

The public will get their first look at the precinct during an open day on Sunday.

Newshub.