$1.6m needed for sports hub
The Christchurch City Council needs to find another $1.6 million to complete the delayed first stage of the multimillion-dollar Nga¯ Puna Wai sports hub.
The $36.8m first stage of the sports hub, which is next to the Canterbury Agricultural Park, was originally due to be completed in November last year.
The expected completion date was pushed out to September 2018 and later March 2019, after ‘‘further detailed design and project planning work’’.
Yesterday, council recreation services manager David Bailey said stage one’s athletics and hockey facilities would open this winter, tennis facilities would open next summer and rugby league facilities would open in autumn 2019.
He was ‘‘confident’’ the extra $1.6m would be found through ‘‘philanthropic and commercial efforts’’.
The project recently received ‘‘generous support’’ from the Rata Foundation.
‘‘There is no plan b, plan a is we find the money,’’ Bailey said.
‘‘I know that may seem a little bit arrogant, but based on our track record – we’ve so far raised over $11m, getting close to $12m, over the last 18 months – I think another $1.6m over the next 18 months is highly achievable.
‘‘I’m not sweating what plan b will [be] . . . in a year’s time, if we don’t have the money, then I’ll sweat plan b.’’
Work was ‘‘progressing well on the first stage’’, he said.
‘‘Bitumen has been laid on the athletics track and one of the hockey fields with work currently under way installing the artificial surfaces.
‘‘Next week bitumen will be laid on the other hockey turf. The construction of the public amenity buildings and athletics covered seating is well advanced.
‘‘The next activity for this is to fit roofing cladding to the structures. The majority of the services have been installed and car park construction is well under way with installation of curbing, light poles and footpaths.’’
Concrete foundations have also been completed for the on-site maintenance shed and foundations for the athletics event control building will be poured this week.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) class track, part of the project’s first stage, was originally due to open last December after its construction was fast-tracked. It was confirmed last October that the track was delayed, and the expected completion date was later moved to January, then March 22.
Part of the delay was due to ‘‘saturated ground conditions from rainfall being well in excess of the averages amounts’’, Bailey said last October.
The council gave the go-ahead for the development of Nga¯ Puna Wai in March 2015. The total cost was more than $100m. The council planned to build it in stages over 10 to 30 years.
‘‘The subsequent stages have not yet been designed but are likely to include an additional hockey turf, secondary athletics track, covered tennis courts, administration space, additional community facilities and playing fields along with supporting infrastructure such as additional car parking,’’ Bailey said.
A consortium including AECOM and Beca, in partnership with Studio106 Architect and other specialists, was contracted by the council in June 2016 to begin concept design work for the hub.