At a Waitaki District Council meeting on Tuesday, councillors were presented with a business case for the $24million indoor stadium project, and voted to progress with the preferred location, at Centennial Park between the grandstand and Taward St.
Council recreation manager Erik van der Spek said the business case concluded a six-court indoor sport and event centre in Oamaru would bring several benefits to the community "in terms of social wellbeing, economic wellbeing and for our sporting fraternity".
The preferred location at Centennial Park was one of more than 20 potential sites identified in a 2017 feasibility study.
The council would be required to publicly notify the change of land use under the Reserves Act, but given the strong support received for the project, it was not anticipated any significant concern would be raised, Mr van der Spek said.
Neighbours had been approached and they were "by and large" very supportive of the location.
There were some concerns relating to parking in the area, as several different sports competitions were held on Saturdays, but additional parks would be created for the stadium, and an indoor facility would allow competitions to be scheduled on other days of the week and at nights, to reduce traffic congestion, he said.
The business case described indoor facilities in Waitaki as "fragmented and not fit for purpose, restricting growth and participation across core/potential sporting codes".
It was expected the rock-climbing wall and fitness centre would remain within the existing Waitaki Community Recreation Centre, while sports such as netball, basketball, and futsal would use the new indoor facility.
Further engagement with the community recreation centre trust and Waitaki Girls’ High School was required, the business case said.
Waitaki Event Centre Trust trustee Deidre Senior said she had met a member of the recreation centre trust and Waitaki Girls’ principal Liz Koni to initiate those discussions.
Deputy mayor Melanie Tavendale said the North Otago netball competition had suffered this winter. Half of the scheduled games had to be cancelled because of rain.
An indoor stadium would help address those issues, she said.
She supported the location, and the idea of a "sporting hub" in Oamaru.
Waitaki Event Centre Trust trustee Kevin Malcolm said the project was moving in a "very positive direction".
The trust had been working "flat stick" to get more financial support for the project, by approaching potential corporate partners in the community, and had been getting an "exceptionally" good response.
The projected cost for a six-court stadium in Oamaru is $24million.
The annual operating cost, including the servicing of council loans, was estimated to be about $545,000.
The Waitaki District Council is contributing up to $9million, a further $1million is coming from the RMA reserve, and the trust had also received an anonymous $5million pledge, with the condition that the community matched it by raising another $5million.
"We are very confident we’ll have that matched towards the end of September, or certainly into October," Mr Malcolm said.
