Julian Savea took a selfie with Venus and Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki at the charity tennis match for Kaikoura. File/Photo
Julian Savea took a selfie with Venus and Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki at the charity tennis match for Kaikoura. File/Photo
A charity tennis match pitting superstar sisters Venus and Serena Williams against All Black brothers Julian and Ardie Savea will help fund a new swimming pool in earthquake-hit Kaikoura.
The New Year's Day match on the day before the ASB Classic tennis tournament in Auckland raised $70,000 forKaikoura, six weeks after the town was hit by a devastating magnitude 7.8 quake which killed one person, damaged buildings and closed the main highway from Picton.
Kaikoura District Council has allocated the money to five projects topped by a new public swimming pool to replace a pool damaged in the quake.
Mayor Winston Gray said $20,000 would be used for a feasibility study for a new pool complex.
"This is a big project for our small community and the financial support from ASB takes a tremendous amount of pressure off our community," Gray said.
The money will also be used for:
• Re-roofing the Kaikoura Scout hall, which will also be used as a cinema while the town's sole movie theatre is out of action ($20,000).
• Art workshops and other courses at a new Community Hub ($10,000).
• A Community Shed behind the old museum ($10,000).
• Attracting festivals and events to compensate for the loss of tourists while the highway remains closed ($10,000). The government has earmarked $812 million in this month's Budget to reopen the highway before the end of this year.
