| 93 COMMUNITY Taupo District Council: Owen Delany Park Sports Hub Stadium upgrade a win for Taupo he upgrades underway and planned will provide the 14 sporting codes that currently use Owen Delany Park, and any future new ones, with good-quality facilities. T T Sue Russell “What will potentially come next is a multi-purpose indoor training facility; an opportunity for our community to train indoors and extend the shoulder seasons.” Taupō District Council’s decision to undertake a strategic review of its sport and rec facilities back in 2010, and imbed strategic decisions into its long term plan, was the catalyst for a major upgrade at Taupō’s much-loved Owen Delany Stadium and Park. Named after a man often called ‘Mr Rugby’ in his day back in the 1950s and ’60s, the park, which opened in 1983, holds special meaning in the town, and today is used by a large array of sporting codes. Council’s events and venue manager, Steve Giles, says the upgrade work only started very recently, and is just a small part of a master plan that will guide council spending over the next 20 years. “We have grounded a plan, which would see upward of $55million invested in major upgrades and new facilities. This funding is not committed to from Council alone, as is the case with the first stage underway now, which has been made possible from a variety of funding sources,” Steve says. The $5.3million current works came together from a significant $4.9million ‘Better-Off’ funding, accessible to qualifying shovel-ready projects through the previous Labour Government’s Three Waters programme. “We could show we had money in the annual plan set aside, along with funding provided from the NZ Lottery Grant Board and the Community Gaming Trust, amounting to a further $400,000, ” explains Steve. These days, there’s a lot of talk about Council’s sticking to their ‘bread and butter’ expenditure activities, and Steve firmly believes that the provision for fit-for-purpose community sporting and recreation facilities sits squarely in this group. “Stadiums, sports and open rec spaces are core infrastructure. They play an incredibly important part in developing and maintaining healthy communities, especially given more and more people live in denser housing situations with little room outside to enjoy and move in. Over 56% of those who frequent the park are locals,” he says. There’s a gathering concept, Steve says, called ‘third space’, a location outside a person’s home and place of work, and sporting clubs form a really important part in that concept. The upgrades underway and planned will provide the 14 sporting codes that currently use Owen Delany Park, and any future new Building Better Futures, One Project at a Time Project Management Surveying Civil Design Land Development admin@matangaprojects.co.nz | 027 5570 006 | www.matangaprojects.co.nz 0800 289 787 btw.nz SURVEYING ENGINEERING PLANNING ENVIRONMENT Creating a better future with smart solutions, sustainable outcomes, and strong partnerships. Scan to walkthrough our 3D model of this iÝVÌ} />Õ«Ŧ ÃÌÀVÌ Council project. ones, with good-quality facilities, including a soon to be built new sports hub/changing room complex, upgrades and extension of car parking spaces nearby, and a seismic strengthening of the current stadium structures. Stage 1 was completed in time for a Guy Fawkes opening last year where the lights were switched on to state-of-the-art level 3 international standard LED training lights. “Pure LED completed that project for us. The original stadium light poles have been repurposed at the Marist sports grounds in Hamilton, which fits in nicely with our aim to recycle wherever possible.” Stage 2 will see the completion of the sports hub complex, home to eight changing rooms and a communal club room space, while stage 3 programmed into next year’s capital work activity will see the seismic upgrade work and the refurbishment of stadium facilities. “What will potentially come next is a multi-purpose indoor training facility; an opportunity for our community to train indoors and extend the shoulder seasons,” says Steve. Council has been thorough with its consultation processes around the current upgrade and the master plan, particularly gaining input from the Delany family, tangata whenua Nga Tuwharetoa, and the sporting codes that make use of the area. “The park is positioned at the foot of Mt Tauhara, a maunga of great significance. It is also orientated toward Mt Tongariro, across the lake. We’ve gained input from local iwi as to how we could incorporate cultural elements in the building,” says Steve. Principal contractors, Livingstone Building, have enjoyed a long relationship undertaking council projects. “They’ve been great to work with. In scheduling this current build, we’ve factored in with them some non-operation dates around significant events, so there’s as little disruption as possible.” Above all, Steve stresses that Council has a responsibility to spend prudently, and with a focus of ‘function over form’ very much at the centre of their thinking. “This upgrade work will deliver good user-friendly appropriate spaces for our sporting people to use and will give our community a meaningful place to gather and enjoy, and real value for money. It’s a very fitting tribute to the legacy of Owen Delany.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=