$500k boost for Park

The Regional Sports Park received a major financial injection following the announcement of a $500,000 grant from the Lotteries Community Facilities Fund today.

The Fund is available for facilities that support participation in community activities. The grant is to be spent on fitting out the grandstand, its 2500 seats and internal finishing of administrative offices and changing rooms.

Park fundraiser Jenni Giblin said the success of the Park’s application was a result of the multi-purpose use of the grandstand.

“The grandstand is going to be used by a range of sports both in an active and administrative sense. Several sports will have their administrative base in the grandstand and the grassed area within the athletics track is suitable for rugby and football. There will also be a range of programmes, for all ages, delivered from within the grandstand,” she says.

Sports Park Trust Chair Lawrence Yule said the past few weeks had been among the most successful for the Park.

“Funding ebbs and flows, but it’s certainly flowed since May. We have had $900,000 confirmed in the last month. We said back in December we expected to raise $3.9m for athletics, netball and football development. We’re well on the way to achieving that, with a further $4.5m available if the region is successful in its bid for a velodrome,” he says.

The grandstand is due to open in September. Its first major assignment is the New Zealand Secondary Championships in December. The following month it will also host the North Island Primary School champs – the Colgate Games.

ENDS

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