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Great Progress for Athletics and Gymnastics Facility
posted: 4 July 2012 Sport Thought with Brent Eastwood
A couple of months ago I wrote in this column about the exciting progress being made on the athletics and gymnastics facility on the eastern side of Kensington Park.
This excellent progress continues, and not only on the construction front.
The Northland Athletics and Gymnastics Stadium Trust (NAGST), the body who leases the land from the Council and is developing the facility, is delighted to announce that ASB has secured the naming rights to the new facility and wider athletic track area, which upon completion will be known as the ASB Sports Arena.
ASB are fantastic supporters of sport in the north, with their support of Sport Northland across the region being already very well known. To now have their support behind the newest sporting facility in the region is a fantastic coup for the trust.
The ASB Sports Arena will house a 1600 square metre space that will be home to the Whangarei Academy of Gymnastics, who are currently based out of an old warehouse in Kamo that is woefully inadequate for its requirements. A key feature of the new facility will be the viewing access that will be available to parents and supporters from the mezzanine level.
Although the new all-weather athletics track has been operating for a little while now, Athletics Whangarei and the athletics community has so far had to operate it with no supporting amenities in place. With the completion of the new facility, a 500 seat grandstand will overlook the finish straight of the track, and meeting room, kitchen, storage and photo finish facilities will be available to compliment the new track and inner grass field.
The benefit of housing both sports together in one facility will also become more obvious upon completion, as both will have access to the common facilities such as changing rooms, toilets, lounges, kitchen facilities, the first aid room and an impressive new car park, that will also service the wider Kensington Park area.
The ASB Sports Arena will be owned and operated by NAGST, a Charitable Trust established in 2000 (originally named the Northland All Weather Track Trust) that had a vision of establishing an all-weather track in Northland. The name change came about from the gymsports partnership, to better reflect the new structure of the Trust and the combined nature of the new facility.
As anchor tenants of the new facility, both the Whangarei Academy of Gymnastics and Athletics Whangarei will have the responsibility of not only delivering sport services to their own members, but also of ensuring that the facilities are supported by other groups within their respective sports, who may also be requiring space to deliver their own services.
Examples of this for gymsports could include trampolining, cheerleading, dance, group fitness and even martial arts, while athletics will look towards a host of other sports for use of the track and the inner field, as well as hiring out the lounge space for various uses.
The ASB Sports Arena is on track to be completed in November of this year.
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