Date: April 4th 2013

Start date set for construction of William Nelson Park

Contractors will move onto the site to begin construction of William Nelson Park near Hastings CBD on Monday April 15th 2013.

Hastings District Council has awarded the contract for the construction of William Nelson Park to Hawke’s Bay based Infracon Limited. The park will be constructed on 6000m2 of land bordered by St Aubyn Street, King Street and Avenue Road and will incorporate a passive park, a children’s playground and a skate plaza.

The construction of the skatepark component will be undertaken by Hastings firm Angus McMillan Concrete. The company has recently been nominated in the Top Ten International Concrete placement awards for their work on the penguin enclosure at the New Zealand National Aquarium in Napier. The skatepark has been designed by Jason Parkes from Premium Skate Designs and his services as a consultant will be retained during the construction of the skate facility.

Deputy Mayor Cynthia Bowers says “This is an exciting project for inner city Hastings and we are delighted that construction is about to begin. We are confident that the skatepark will be finished to a very high standard and skaters, skateboarders and BMX riders will be delighted with the quality of the facility.”

Councillor Sandra Hazlehurst says “The passive park and children’s playground will become an oasis for workers and shoppers from the CBD. It will be a place to relax, take the weight off your feet and enjoy taking a little time out from shopping or work. Council is extremely grateful to the many organisations that have assisted with fundraising for the skatepark.”

William Nelson family representative Margaret Walmsley says “We are looking forward to the completion of the park and the official opening ceremony. The greenspace will give great pleasure to people of all ages and is a fitting tribute to William Nelson, who gave so much time and energy to the development of Hastings,”

Construction of William Nelson Park is programmed to begin on Monday 15th April. Given favourable weather conditions, it is anticipated that construction will be completed well before Christmas.

Lighting

A partnership between Council and electricity distribution company Unison Networks will deliver innovative lighting technology to the park. Unison is contributing $50,000 towards the lighting, which will provide multiple benefits to park users, including greater energy efficiency, a significantly longer bulb life than conventional lighting technologies, and deliver a better quality of white light to create a safer environment. This new lighting system will also, over time, result in substantial savings on the cost of power.

Fundraising

Fundraising has contributed $310,700 to the overall cost of the park. Contributing organisations include Infinity Foundation, New Zealand Community Trust, Eastern and Central Community Trust, Lotteries Community Facilities Fund, Endeavour Foundation, Lion Foundation, Tasman Smith Charitable Trust, First Light Community Trust and Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. The Hastings Youth Council and various schools around the district have also assisted with fundraising.

Programmes

The goal is to provide a positive Skate Plaza environment that will ensure it is utilised properly, enable youth to improve their skills, and be valued as an asset by the whole community.
Sport Hawkes Bay has allocated Kiwi Sport funding to provide on-site coaching and mentoring programmes which will be co-ordinated by staff from the Atomic Events Centre. This initiative will provide programmes during high use times of the park, 365 days of the year.

ENDS

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