New $5.4m surf rescue base opened
Minister Nash does the honours for ‘heart of Pa¯ pa¯ moa’
A$5.4m building intended to become “heart of Pa¯ pa¯ moa” has been officially opened. The official opening of the Pa¯pa¯moa Surf Life Saving Club on Saturday was the result of more than 10 years of effort to develop a new community asset, sports and water safety facility.
Project manager Jim Pearson said more than 10,000 volunteer hours had gone into the project since it was first conceived a decade ago.
“The original trustees and contributors had a vision for a new surf rescue base at the Pa¯pa¯moa Domain and that vision has now been fulfilled.
“From the feasibility stage we always planned that this facility would be the heart of Pa¯pa¯moa and we can now proudly say that we have delivered.”
He said it had been a challenging project but the club was stronger because of it.
“The whole of what has been achieved on this project, and over the past two seasons, is truly greater than the sum of the individuals or the hours contributed.”
Regional Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash officially opened the new surf rescue base with praise for the effort of volunteers, fundraisers and donors.
“It was clear to the Government that this project was worth supporting when an application was made for a grant from the ‘shovel ready’ Covid Response and Recovery Fund in 2020,” Nash said.
He said the Pa¯pa¯moa community had been working hard since 2014 to replace the old surf lifesaving base which had fallen into disrepair after more than 20 years’ exposure to the elements on the sand dunes.
“The strong community spirit in this part of Bay of Plenty meant most of the funds for the $5.4 million project were raised locally. But early last year the final fundraising push was thwarted by the global pandemic. The Government approved a grant of $800,000 in September 2020 to make up the shortfall,” Nash said.
The club’s new building, plagued by delays during construction and supply chain issues, was meant to be completed by October last year.
The project was originally projected to cost $5.2m but this rose to $5.4m.
Three times bigger than the previous clubhouse, the new building stretches along the sand dunes.
Planning to rebuild the club began in 2014, as it had outgrown the 100 members it was originally built to accommodate and now boasts about 850.
Pa¯pa¯moa Surf Life Saving Club president Andrew Hitchfield told the Bay of Plenty Times in February the building was originally expected to be complete mid-october.
“But with Covid, we hit a very strong headwind.”
Delays due to a five-week hiatus in lockdown and during alert levels 3 and 2 were “very much a slowdown“.
“Originally we were still hoping to be able to move in by mid-december, but we realised by early December that just wasn’t going to happen. “By that stage, we didn’t want to rush to complete. We wanted to ensure everything was completed to our satisfaction and with integrity.”
Pa¯pa¯moa artist Wayne Vickers painted a landscape of the old club that will be hung in the new building.
Nash said surf lifesaving clubs, like marae, churches, town halls and war memorials, had been prioritised for regional development funding. Although the sums involved were comparatively modest, they were important for community resilience.
“I pay tribute to the hundreds of volunteers and generous local businesses and supporters who made this happen. I also thank the volunteer lifeguards who play a vital role in keeping this stretch of beach safe for swimmers of all ages,” Nash said.
He said the construction of the new facility had helped employ the equivalent of 28 full-time workers.
“These economic benefits — in combination with the social impact — puts this region in a better position to continue a strong recovery from the impacts of the pandemic.”.