From three courts to 11: Pettigrew Green Arena to get massive $6m expansion

Stressing family benefits of PGA expansion, from left, Will Nash, 8, father and MP Stuart Nash, basketball star Paul Henare, and daughter Kaia, 11, and friend Holly Baines, 11. Photo / Ian Cooper.

The number of courts at the Pettigrew Green Arena in Taradale is to be almost quadrupled following the granting of $6.4 million from the Government.

The expansion, a new building sprawling across the area of the current parking lot at the rear of the Taradale site where the arena opened 17 years ago, increases the number of courts from three to 11, becoming one of New Zealand's biggest indoor sports complexes.

Basketball Hawke's Bay chairman Keith Price said: "To have 11 courts is just great news. This is big news for Napier and Hawke's Bay, and bring a lot of people and money into the region."

Other sports regularly played in the existing arena are netball, futsal, volleyball and badminton, while it has also been used for concerts and trade and other shows.

Pettigrew Green Arena will go from three indoor courts to 11. Photo / File

The new building is expected to cost well over $10m, including $4m from the Napier City Council, funding from the Hastings District Council and other sponsorship and grants sourced by the Hawke's Bay Regional Indoor Sports and Events Centre Trust, chaired by businessman Craig Waterhouse.

It has been in the trust's sights for the last six years, albeit stalled for some time as the trust supported an ultimately terminated Napier City Council proposal to build a separate $22m indoor velodrome and courts complex.

The new funding, from the Government's Covid Response and Recovery Fund via the Infrastructure Reference Group, was announced today in a joint statement from Sport and Recreation Minister and Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Napier MP Stuart Nash.

It is likely to take 18 months with approximately 300 people employed, they said, but planning and consent issues are still to be dealt with.

"While the facility is mostly used for regular sports, the increased capacity as a result of this expansion will mean events and large tournaments will also be able to be hosted," Robertson said.

It is also another step meeting demand for basketball court space, which was highlighted at the opening of Basketball Hawke's Bay's outdoor courts in Marewa a week earlier.

At the arena today, accompanied by former Hawke's Bay and New Zealand basketball star and coach Paul Henare, Nash said: "The expansion of the arena gives greater certainty to small businesses and contractors about the pipeline of infrastructure projects across the wider Hawke's Bay-Tairawhiti region."

Henare, who is currently home in the off-season from coach Japan B League team Kagawa Five Arrows, described the funding as "awesome". Henare's top-level basketball started in former premier indoor venue the Centennial Hall at McLean Park, now the Rodney Green Centennial Event Centre.

He was thus able to compare the present day with the era when councils and the public debated if such a venue as the PGA was needed in Hawke's Bay, and then who would fund it and where would it be.

Nash said the enhanced capacity will boost regional economic activity, with bigger tournaments in an array of sports and other large events.

"The infrastructure project also gives confidence about local employment conditions and the job opportunities which are emerging as the economy continues to open up," he said.

"For workers who are relocating to the provinces from larger cities, the recreational opportunities also make the move more attractive."

The investment comes from a $3 billion fund set aside for what Government calls "shovel-ready" projects in the Covid-19 response and recovery.