Te Tai Hauāuru MP Adrian Rurawhe (left), senior site manager Nick McCann, and Tukituki MP Anna Lorck stand on the bottom of the Olympic-size pool at Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park. Photo / Warren Buckland
Te Tai Hauāuru MP Adrian Rurawhe (left), senior site manager Nick McCann, and Tukituki MP Anna Lorck stand on the bottom of the Olympic-size pool at Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park. Photo / Warren Buckland
The $32 million Hawke's Bay Regional Aquatic Centre with New Zealand's largest swimming pool complex is on track to be completed in just under a year from now.
The international-class 50m swimming pool, along with a 25m learn-to-swim pool, will be a part of the Hawke's Bay Community Fitness Centreat the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park on the outskirts of Hastings.
Driven by benefactor and now Hawke's Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust chairman Sir Graeme Avery, the centre is due for completion at June-end 2022.
"The main Olympic pool, with it's 1350-spectator seating capacity and the largest in the country, will host local, regional, national and, when the borders open, international events," Avery said.
"It will be a real and enduring asset for the region."
Hawke's Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust chairman Sir Graeme Avery said the Olympic pool would be "a real and enduring asset for the region". Photo / NZME
Avery said the whole aquatics complex would add "much needed" water space for competitive swimmers for training, and schools for water safety education and school swimming sports.
"The deep water of the main Olympic pool will enable the exciting sport of water polo to be played in the region," he said.
He said a water polo club was under development with "huge" interest already.
"There is a shortage of water space for learn-to-swim instruction and a real need for water competency education of primary school-age children," Avery said.
"A swim school will operate from the complex using the large learn-to-swim pool."
Tukituki MP Anna Lorck extended the Government's praise to the local workforce building Hawke's Bay's regional aquatic centre.
Speaking to the crew of Red Steel Engineering, which is installing over 280 tonnes of steel, Lorck said it was a real credit to the entire team involved right across the project that Hawke's Bay was set to open "one of the greatest sporting and community assets for our region, on time and on budget".
More than 280 tonnes of steel has been installed on the swimming pool site. Photo / Warren Buckland
Last week Lorck, joined by Te Tai Hauāuru MP Adrian Rurawhe, toured the Olympic swimming pool site with staff from lead construction firm Apollo Projects.
"By the time our region's world-class aquatic centre opens, over 1000 people from across a wide range of businesses, with expansive construction, engineering and specialist skills and expertise will have worked on this project, and over 95 per cent of you are local," Lorck said.
"This $32 million government investment is also directly creating more than 160 new fulltime jobs, here in our region as we focus on our Covid-19 recovery.
"It's outstanding seeing this government shovel-ready funded project contributing to a record level of infrastructure work and development happening in the region, which all supports growing local jobs and accelerating our regional economy while improving the social and wellbeing outcomes for the Bay."
The aquatic centre would be available for swim training, water polo (there is no deep-water pool in the region), school sports and competition events, along with water competency education and community health lap swimming and aqua aerobics classes.
The hydrotherapy pools were also expected to be used for patient rehab and mobility, plus athlete recovery and performance analysis.
The pool would add to the multisport indoor training facilities at the EIT Institute of Sport and Health, as well as complement the outdoor athletics, hockey, netball, canoe polo, rugby league and football facilities at Mitre 10 Park.
"Together, these multisports facilities will make Mitre 10 Park unrivalled in New Zealand as a world-class sports training, competition and major events venue," Lorck said.
It's estimated over 500,000 users will visit the EIT Institute of Sport & Health and Hawke's Bay Regional Aquatic Centre by 2022-23.
An accommodation hostel is also being built with support from the Government of $5m through the Provincial Growth Fund.
The accommodation will be used for camps and residential sports development programmes.
