Club president Sean Bellew said it was the first stage of a project including a 20-section residential subdivision in the future.
Mr Bellew and developers Will Kennedy yesterday visited the site where the new Blue Duck Early Learning Centre will be built.
It will have a capacity for 65 children.
"What we are trying to create with the Blue Duck centre is to put a social content in the area. We have a retirement village, rest-home, hospital on the road — so would be a good addition to the mix."
Mr Kennedy said the project included a 390sq m building, playground and car park.
It had a total cost of $1.2 million, he said.
"The tenants who are running it — Tina Hardy from Blue Duck Childcare — want open the facility in January for next year’s intake."
They already got the resource consent and applied yesterday for building consent.
"As soon we get this sorted, we’re ready to start to build."
Mr Bellew said if everything worked as planned, it would enable the construction of 20 "gated" sections on the other side of the road leading to the racecourse, which would be made up of a variety of housing, including townhouses, houses for the elderly and other community ages.
"The idea is to integrate families with the retirement sites," Mr Bellew said.
Despite the project starting before the Covid-19 outbreak, Mr Bellew believed it was a positive initiative to focus on a challenging time.
