Sports people using the TSB Hub on a daily basis are exceeding expectations.
South Taranaki District Council communications manager Gerard Langford said the Hawera High School used the Hub every day for its sports and were counted in the 21,000 who used the facility in May.
The $21 million Hub was built
at no cost to the STDC ratepayers, Mr Langford said, with $6.3 million raised externally through central Government.
The Taranaki Savings Bank is major sponsor (TSB), and the STDC, Ministry for the Environment, NZCT and New Zealand Lotteries also pitched in with funding.
The community held fundraising events as well.
Mr Langford said in 1997 the council sold its shares in Egmont Electricity for $88,731,652 to Powerco , which it invested, and the STDC subsidised rates to the tune of $4 million.
Interest from this investment was used to fund the new Hub.
The Hub was completed in March last year. It is rated as Taranaki's premier sports, recreation, events and function centre.
The multi-sports centre has indoor and outdoor facilities together on one site, located on Hicks Park between Waihi Rd and Camberwell Rd in Hawera. The Southern Rugby Club's grounds and lounge/bar have "the best views" of Mt Taranaki in the northwest.
There are community lounges with in-house catering and inside the Hub entrance is the Sportz Cafe run by local caterers. Further along the corridor in the massive complex is the gymnasium which is also privately run.
Mr Langford said the income from each of the businesses went toward the running of the complex.
Sport Taranaki's Paul Williams has an office in the complex and runs programmes under Active South Taranaki for the youth in Patea and Waverley.
Tennis is played indoor in the winter months, and the hard courts are used for a variety of sports by Hawera High and other sports clubs.
There is also an indoor smallbore rifle shooting galley, and as well as the rugby field, an outdoor hockey turf is being planned.
Next door was Hawera High School, King Edward Park and the PowerCo Aquatic Centre, which Mr Langford said, gave the Hub location an intensive sport, recreation, leisure and events focus.
"The Hub is ideal for tournaments and caters everyday to multiple sports codes, training, and education, social and family events."
The TSB Hub
- It can seat 2000 people at concerts, entertainment and other public events
- It can seat 400-1000 people for banquets
- The 2010 Clubs Expo was held in May 2010 and the Primary Schools Regional Kapa Haka Championships was held in August.