More than two years after funding was announced — and decades after the idea was first mooted — work is finally about to start on an indoor sports complex in Kaikohe.

The new multisport gymnasium,
the centrepiece of a $14.8 million redevelopment of Lindvart Park, will cater to 25 sporting codes and include two full-size indoor courts.

More than 60 carparks, new public toilets and improved lighting for night sports training are included in the plan.

The project is being undertaken by Kaikohe and Districts Sportsville, which manages sports facilities at Lindvart Park on behalf of the Far North District Council.

Initial earthworks have started and piling is due to begin on September 20.

Sportsville chairman Justin Blaikie said he was delighted to have firm dates for the start of construction, even if the project had been scaled back from the initial designs.

“Like all building projects in New Zealand, we’ve been under huge pressure from inflation and Covid-19-related increases in construction costs,” he said.

“Our committee had to make some tough decisions around reducing the size of the gymnasium and also peg back architectural elements of the building that were designed to reflect Ngāpuhitanga.”

The Government’s Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund is covering almost half the cost.

The $6.2m grant was announced by former Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones in July 2020 amid tears and jubilation in Kaikohe.

However, soaring costs, the need to modify the design and then get the scaled-back plans approved by government ministers, meant Kaikohe residents had to endure a tense wait to find out if the project would still go ahead.

“Given the amount of community excitement around the project, we were doing cartwheels when the variations to the project got approval. This investment is a game-changer for wellbeing in our community,” he said.

“We still have some additional funds to raise which is the focus of our efforts at present. We are extremely grateful to our funding partners for agreeing to allow us to start, it’s critical we can lock in contracts and fix prices to ensure the project costs don’t escalate.”

Other funding was contributed by the Far North District Council ($3.58m), Northland Regional Council ($1.4m), Lotteries ($512,000) and the Tourism Infrastructure Fund ($312,000).

The construction site was blessed in July by hapū leaders, who recited a traditional dawn blessing to ensure the project’s success. Blaikie said it was “awesome” to see young, up-and-coming hapū representatives perform the takutaku (reciting of karakia).

The project was due to be completed in 2024 with local hapū asked to name the facility.
Blaikie said the sports complex was being built in the heart of Ngāpuhi so it was fitting that its name would reflect Ngāpuhitanga.

The gymnasium would also be used as an arts and culture venue with acoustic panelling a key part of the design.

Māori designs and artworks by local carvers would connect the building with the area’s rich Ngāpuhi history.

Initial architectural design was facilitated by Ākau, which engaged with youth and hapū to ensure the whakapapa of the site, and the aspirations of youth, were reflected in the design.

Two schools that don’t have their own indoor sports space — Kaikohe Christian School and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe — will be key weekday users of the new facility.

Many people had helped get the project off the ground, Blaikie said.

They included Kaikohe sporting stalwart Taal Smith, who helped apply for Covid-19 Response and Recovery funding; Far North district councillors and staff who backed the project and applied for tourism infrastructure funding at a critical time; and Sport Northland’s Brent Markwick, who had served on the Sportsville board for nine years and brought valuable experience and governance support.

Blaikie said Sportsville, on behalf of Kaikohe and surrounding communities, also couldn’t thank Kānoa and central government enough. Kānoa Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit is the agency that manages the Government’s share of the funding.

The Lindvart Park clubrooms, built in 1983 with ground-floor toilets and changing rooms, will be retained. The Far North’s only artificial hockey turf was added in 2010.

The new facility was to have included a 300sq m auxiliary gym for gymnastics and martial arts, but that was dropped due to the cost blowout.

The dream of an indoor sports complex in Kaikohe, which has the highest proportion of youth of any Northland town, is decades old.

It seemed imminent in July 2020 when more than 300 people gathered at Lindvart Park when funding was announced by Jones and an emotional Cheryl Waaka-Smith, a former world champion Black Fern.

At the time Waaka-Smith said Kaikohe youth would soon have a world-class gym and the pathway she had followed to represent New Zealand would be open to all.

“I can’t be happier to know that when I get older I’ll be able to walk into a facility and see our rangatahi perform to the best of their ability, and they won’t have to leave the Mid North to achieve their goals,” she said.