Sports house opens doors

The multi-million-dollar Wairarapa Sports House in Masterton is set to become a home for all sports in the region.

Prime Community Trust's $3 million revamp of the two-storey building on the corner of Chapel and Jackson streets has been eight years in the making, and was opened on Thursday by Masterton Mayor Garry Daniell and trust chairman Greg Scobie.

Trust manager Alister Skene said about 100 people attended the opening, at which Mr Daniell congratulated the trust for its continuing involvement and investment in the town.

The trust is a charitable entity that operates gaming machines in Wairarapa for the sole benefit of the community.

For about the past 15 years, the trust has regularly funded schools and charitable groups, infrastructure projects such as the Masterton skatepark, recreation centre, pool refurbishment and exhibition sponsorship at the Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History.

Mr Skene said Wairarapa builders MB Brown worked for 10 months from January last year on the refurbishment and earthquake-strengthening of the sports house building, which various businesses had occupied for the past century.

Lead architect was Gina Jones from Accent Architects in Greytown and the trust were pleased the entire project was completed using Wairarapa talent only.

The work included constructing a new wing, installing a lift, an office suite, IT infrastructure, meeting rooms, conference facilities for up 100 people, activity spaces with impact-absorbent flooring, sports medicine and physiotherapy consultation rooms, and a redesign of the roof-line.

Wairarapa Sports House will be a base for Sport Wellington/Wairarapa and second-floor tenants Wairarapa Free Budget Advisory Service and Wairarapa Community Law Centre.

There will be a permanent staff of up to 20 people at the site, not including ad hoc and permanent user groups.

Mr Skene earlier told the Times-Age the trust hoped to attract many sports volunteers throughout the region who were working out of their homes.

"There's not a lot of professional sporting positions in Wairarapa but there are lots and lots of volunteers and the idea is to get those volunteers out of their spare rooms and shoeboxes under the bed and into a modern and fully resourced office space," he said.

Any sporting or recreational clubs interested in using the facility can contact Sports House co-ordinator Samantha Thompson at Sport Wellington/Wairarapa on (06) 370-0157.