Levin Domain holds many sporting memories, like the time Carlos Spencer sold a dummy to score in the 1993 Ranfurly Sheild Challenge against Auckland at Levin Domain.
Levin Domain holds many sporting memories, like the time Carlos Spencer sold a dummy to score in the 1993 Ranfurly Sheild Challenge against Auckland at Levin Domain.
Horowhenua-Kāpiti Rugby Union now has an official base at the spiritual home of rugby in the province.
It is just metres away from where a teenaged Carlos Spencer side-stepped Auckland fullback Shane Howarth to score a try in a Ranfurly Shield match in 1993, from where Horowhenua beat the might of Tonga in 1969, and from where Mayor of Horowhenua Bernie Wanden played an international cricket match against The Netherlands in the late 1980s.
In the coming weeks HKRU will shift into the brand new building on the northern side of Levin Domain that will double as an administration base and function facility.
Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden with representatives of Muaūpoko and Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga at the official blessing of the new administration building at Levin Domain.
The building was given an official opening and blessing last week with a dawn ceremony led by members of both Muaūpoko and Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and involved past and current players and administrators and local dignitaries like Wanden and Horowhenua District Council chief executive Monique Davidson.
Horowhenua-Kāpiti Rugby Union chief executive Corey Kennett and Mayor Bernie Wanden at the opening of the new pavilion at Levin Domain.
The need for a new building was mooted decades ago, but had been long time coming. HKRU chief executive Corey Kennett said the project was first raised in 2008. Representative rugby had been played at Levin Domain for the past 113 years, so it made sense to base its operations there.
“It’s taken a long time to get here so it’s incredibly fulfilling,” he said.
Horowhenua-Kāpiti Rugby Union staff Corey Kennett, Aleni Feagaiga, Sinead Barrell, Ethan Ayers, Josh Sanson and Ryan Shelford at the new headquarters.
In recent times HKRU headquarters were a quaint but aged upstairs building in Stanley Street, housing a staff of five. The new building will also be used to host board meetings and after-match functions, starting with the Hurricanes Poua match against Chiefs Manawa on April 6 at Levin Domain.
A feature of the new building was a veranda overlooking Levin Domain held up by six main poles which feature the names of every player to have represented the province in the last 128 years, with their player number.
Every player to have represented Horowhenua-Kāpiti has their name and player number etched on the pillars of the deck overlooking Levin Domain.
Kennett praised Horowhenua District Council for their assistance. The land at Levin Domain was owned by the council, which has granted HKRU a 20-year lease with a 20-year right of renewal for the site.
Slade Sturmey, Brett Karipa and Dean Wilson look at the names of past Horowhenua-Kāpiti representatives at the new headquarters at Levin Domain.
There would be the opportunity for a range of sporting and community groups to use the building for events at Levin Domain, like the cycling club, local colleges, or organisers of the annual Pasifika Celebration Day held at the ground, he said.
Former Horowhenua-Kāpiti representatives Colin Sciascia and Jim Barker at the opening of the new administration building at Levin Domain.
The cost for the new building, estimated at more than $700,000, was funded by HKRU with assistance from the Levin Charitable Trust and the Eastern and Central Community Trust.
It has offices and meeting rooms, showers and toilets, a large kitchen and a bar.
The new building comes just a few years after the opening of the Hohepa (Harry) Jacob Community Rugby Centre at Playford Park in 2018, used by HKRU as a meeting space with clinics held by coaches, players and referees.
The two new buildings are the first investment in infrastructure the HKRU has been involved in since the construction of the current grandstand at the Levin Domain in 1961.
