Arena in for $25m upgrade
Palmerston North rugby and speedway fans can look forward to covered seating on the south side of Central Energy Trust Arena in about four years’ time.
It will be more than just a roof. It will be a whole new grandstand, with seating for up to 3000 people and with toilet, food truck and table tennis facilities underneath.
The $8.8-million stand is one of the key features of the latest version of the arena masterplan that is being presented to city councillors today.
Venues and events manager John Lynch said the plan would guide development for 20 to 30 years, with the over-arching goal of making sport activity visible, accessible and inviting.
The first tranche of developments planned for the next five years includes the south grandstand, building Sports House at a new Cuba St entrance, moving and improving speedway facilities, remodelling the western embankment, and laying a multi-sport artificial turf.
The bills, if approved when the city council reviews its Long-term Plan by the middle of 2018, would total about $25m, with more to come beyond the 10-year horizon.
Building the new grandstand will be staged, with its plinth created first, and temporary seating released by the installation of retractable seating in Arena 2 reused, and the much-anticipated roof will come last.
One of the first things to move could be the speedway pits, in a $7m project to provide better facilities and a better track entrance in the Cuba St/pascal St corner of the grounds, to free up the space where Sports House will be built.
Sport Manawatu¯ chief executive Trevor Shailer said Humphries Construction had been engaged as the design and build contractor for the project. It is refining plans, with hopes for a start on building in 2019.
Shailer said Sport Manawatu¯ ’s current building in Queen St was no longer fit for purpose and the new single-storey feature building at the arena would be a real sports hub.
Arena staff and representatives of several sporting codes would move in.
‘‘We are focused on building something that is iconic, practical and affordable.’’
There is a proposed $1.5m contribution
"We are focused on building something that is iconic, practical and affordable." Trevor Shailer, Sport Manawatu¯ chief executive
from the city council for Sports House, with Sport Manawatu¯ looking to fundraise the balance of an undisclosed budget and work out what to do with its current building.
Lynch said one of the projects he was particularly keen to move on was converting one of the Arena 6 fields to an all-weather multi-sport turf, at a cost of about $1.4m
‘‘We have had a lot of problems with winter weather closing fields and this is much needed by all of the codes.’’
Costs for the projects have been reviewed and proposed for inclusion in the city council’s budget over the next five years.
Lynch said loading the spending into the first half of the decade was deliberate, understanding that the council would have to invest heavily in upgrading its wastewater treatment system in the second half.
A Palmerston North businessman who has campaigned for many years for a better deal for people who could not afford seats in the main grandstand said he was absolutely delighted with the plans.
Paul O’brien led a consortium of business people who had offered to put money into a ‘‘quick fix’’ cover for the embankment to bring the discomfort of 50 years of sitting in the rain to an end.
But he said a proper facility that was part of a comprehensive plan for the arena was much better and he was excited about the other elements such as the new entrance and artificial turf.
Mayor Grant Smith said he was pleased with the refined master plan, which was ‘‘long overdue’’. Residents will be able to have their say on the spending plans next year.