Before the Waitaki District Council voted to go ahead with a feasibility study for an indoor stadium in September last year, Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said, based on the price tags for new nearby recreation centres, he believed the cost could be up to $7million. However, the 154-page Waitaki District Sport and Recreation Needs Assessment and Indoor Recreation Centre Feasibility study, provided by the council to media yesterday, puts its preferred option — if it were to be built in 2020 — at $22.2million to $24.6million.
Yesterday, Mr Kircher said he was "definitely surprised" by the cost estimate. Further, for the council to pay the suggested 50% of that cost would be "absolutely" unrealistic, he said.
Yet he said he would be disappointed if the project was not a part of the draft long-term plan the council was developing, so that when it went to public consultation about March next year, the community could have its first opportunity to have their say.
"The challenge for the council will be to find a way that as a district that we might be able to afford it — or else it just won’t happen," Mr Kircher said.
"It all depends on how much external money we get," the mayor noted.
"It [a vote to fund the project] is not going to happen this term of council," he predicted, but looking ahead, "I imagine it could be an exciting election issue for 2019."
Sport Waitaki chief executive John Brimble could not be reached for comment yesterday, but last month, he told the Oamaru Mail he believed the session he held with Waitaki District councillors on June 14 on a draft version of the report had been positive.
Few details of the report were publicly available at the time, but a survey, which attracted 69 responses, showed a "total lack of any negativity"; the response had been "overwhelmingly positive" in support for a new complex; yet some were worried about it being affordable.
The preferred option detailed in the report would be for a six-court complex — with two sprung wooden courts and four synthetic courts — incorporating six squash courts.
"The preferred option is a facility incorporating squash courts, located at Centennial Park, and occupying the car park and site of the existing Excelsior Clubroom," the report reads.
"Such a facility would provide the flexibility to have several sports/activities utilising the floor space at concurrent times ... It would create a true sports ‘hub’.
"In terms of size, it would be the largest indoor facility south of Christchurch, except for the Edgar Centre in Dunedin and Stadium Southland in Invercargill. It would firmly establish Waitaki (Oamaru) as part of the regional and South Island tournament circuit."
The new stadium, it says, would have "the potential to inject $500,000 or more into the local economy on an annual basis".
A total of 18 potential sites were assessed in the study and three sites were identified as preferred options: Awamoa Park, opposite the supermarket; Centennial Park, behind the grandstand; and Centennial Park, incorporating the present Excelsior clubroom.
