More cash needed for Victoria Square revamp Victoria Square, Adelaide. TOWN Hall will pour millions of extra dollars into the first stage of its Victoria Square upgrade. The funds are needed to complete the central event plaza and deal with soil contamination. And the project, for which the council had budgeted $24 million, may not be finished in time for next year's Tour Down Under. The blowout comes despite council assurances last September that contamination would not affect the timeframe or cost of the upgrade, which councillors discussed behind closed doors last week. After the meeting, chief executive Peter Smith said the budget increase "may run into a few million dollars." He declined to be more specific while the council was negotiating with potential contractors. Mr Smith said "more than 50 per cent" of the extra cost would be for paving areas around the Grote-Wakefield St crossing which, along with paving the road itself, would create the central events plaza. He said areas around the road needed to be dug up this year for works on essential services and it made sense to pave over them afterwards. Those works had been slated for a later stage of the project. The rest of the money would be for dealing with low-level soil contamination and a contingency fund, Mr Smith said. The council previously said it had factored in the risk of soil contamination from sources such as old tram lines and the former north-south section of King William St through the square. Mr Smith said soil testing had since shown the extent of low-grade contamination had proved to add a "significant" extra cost, "but it's not like we're dealing with highly toxic contamination." The chemicals found are consistent with burnt coal, oil and tar. Mr Smith said the council aimed to complete the project before next year's Tour Down Under. Plans would be made to complete the project after the Tour if necessary, while "ensur (ing) the availability of the site for the event." Mr Smith said the extra funding would not result in cuts elsewhere. "We'll borrow or find the money from additional revenue," he said.