The union is to install its own gym on floor 2A of the stadium and it will sit alongside new facilities for the team — including an analysis suite and meeting room — along with better offices for the union’s staff.
Union general manager Richard Kinley said the idea had been about two and a-half years in the making and came about through the hard work of the staff.
The gym idea came about after the disappointing 2014 season, union strength and conditioning coach Karl Bloxham said.
"For the three months of the year when the season is on, we are building a team culture, trying to build a legacy," Bloxham said.
"But for nine months of the year when the guys are still training, there is nothing to connect them with the union. How do the guys have a sense of belonging to the union when there is nothing that can show that?"
The players had access to the High Performance Sport New Zealand gymnasium on the northern side of the stadium but access was limited and player numbers were capped.
So, over the past couple of seasons, the Otago coaching staff went through and looked at various teams’ gyms around the country, from the flash gym for the Warriors league team to the gym of the Northland side, which was housed in an an old meat works.
Eventually, plans were drawn up and the union’s board gave the green light.
As the gym will be upstairs, the floor will have to have reinforced padding for the weights.
A special rubber matting has been sourced from overseas for the gym, which will be about 180sqm in area. It was small by team standards but ideal for what the union wanted, Bloxham said.
Bloxham hoped the gym would be fully built and ready to go by the new year. Players do gym work four mornings a week in the off-season.
The gym gear would cost about $60,000 but costs for other renovations had been reduced because some of the staff had done jobs such as cabling and painting walls. Kinley said there were other gyms in the area but Otago wanted its own, as it could bring in other squads and do its own thing.
"We want to have a multi-use sort of facility. So we can get club coaches in, show them how we are doing things so they can go back to their clubs. Something that really shows Otago.
"I’m just thrilled for the guys and all the hard work they’ve put into it," Kinley said.
He could not indicate how much the overall development would cost but the union had received good support from trusts and key sponsors.
When the union first moved into the stadium, it had 14 people in a cramped area of less than 100sq m, in a room that had one small window, and a toilet upstairs.The new offices were much more spread out and he said that, once finished, they would be more welcoming for the public.
And the toilets are handy.