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John Brown said indoor facilities in Queenstown were scarce, especially during the cold winter months, with activity centres in particular often fully booked.
“Many people in this town would like to see sporting activities continue throughout the winter.
“Not everyone wants to go skiing, or can afford it, but it’s actually the premier activity in the winter” — besides skating and ice hockey.
He said the new stadium could cater for sports such as netball, basketball, futsal, indoor football and indoor cricket – “for young and old, social and serious”.
Mr Brown, a former New Zealand squash champion, also said the squash courts next to the town’s playground were “terrible” and locals were not always willing to go to the CBD.
As for the location of the new facility, he suggested the proposed Ladies Mile subdivision.
Angela Spackman, Otago Country Cricket committee member and mother of promising junior cricketer Hugo Bogue, said: “There is talk across the region about indoor facilities as being necessary”.
“Our nearest place is actually Invercargill but our kids go to Dunedin for training (in the winter).
“If you want to see cricket grow in Queenstown, we need an indoor facility.
“I do know that there are national and international teams that would like to come to Queenstown for training camps, but because there are no indoor facilities here, they can’t book a two-week camp if they can’t guarantee training capacity.”
Like Brown, she’s excited to see it become part of a multi-purpose facility.
Council community services manager Simon Battrick confirmed that the construction of an indoor centre with four courts next to the existing activities centre stadium is part of the draft masterplan in the council’s long-term plan and consultation is currently underway.
He said $42 million has been allocated, but the facility itself will likely cost $24 million to $28 million, with the balance going toward a new parking lot, a new access road from Grant Road to the back of the events center and new athletic fields.
He called it a “win-win” situation where the access road could be built by the Alliance and NZUP, who plan to use the activity centre area as a site for their transport improvement plans, which include the BP roundabout.
Buttrick said options for the new indoor center include adding two or three indoor cricket lanes, squash courts and a sports center/gymnastics field.
“We said there are options out there, look, these are good options if we can afford them.”
He added that the council has allocated $250,000 for design work and he hopes to issue bidding documents in about two weeks.
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