Champagne, or any other alcoholic beverage, appears unlikely to play any part in the official opening of the Wanaka Recreation Centre, formerly known as the Wanaka Sports Facility.
The $13.9million centre is due to be opened on July 7 with entertainment, blessings, speeches, a ribbon cutting, "a cleansing ceremony'', a plaque unveiling, sports demonstrations and "a cup of tea'' .
And while the programme outline also lists "refreshments'', it seems unlikely these will contain any trace of alcohol.
At its meeting yesterday the Wanaka Community Board adopted a recommendation calling for the Queenstown Lakes District Council to create an alcohol policy for the centre.
That recommendation overrode the more strongly worded original recommendation from board chairwoman Rachel Brown that the centre be "alcohol-free'' during "normal day-to-day operations''.
However, during discussion there was a general acceptance by board members the intent of the policy should be for the centre to have no on-licence.
The main concerns were that the policy did not affect revenue from the centre; that one-off events such as conferences would be catered for; and that any sports club considering building facilities within the centre complex would have the opportunity to have its own licensed facilities.
To resolve those issues, the board accepted an amendment by deputy mayor Lyal Cocks noting the alcohol policy "does not preclude future applications for on-licences at the Wanaka Recreation Centre''.
It also resolved to include information in the event-booking process on how event organisers could obtain a special liquor licence.
But, in the case of the centre's official opening, the council would need to apply to itself, as the licensing authority, 20 working days before the event.
That deadline is today.
