It’s been a great start to 2017 for the north-east with the council breaking ground for the construction of the new QEII Recreation and Sport Centre on Tuesday.
The new centre will include leisure and training pools, as well as a hydroslide, water adventure playground, steamroom and sauna, fitness centre and a café.
Mayor Dalziel and Cr East led a sod-turning ceremony that included the handing over of a sapling in conjunction with Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri. The ceremony set the stage for Apollo Projects to begin work on the site in earnest.
“The new QEII Recreation and Sport Centre will be an outstanding asset which will see the return of swimming and fitness amenities to QEII Park,” Mayor Dalziel says.
“Today’s ground-breaking ceremony for the centre marks a new beginning for the east and will become the heart of this community,” she says.
The new facility is scheduled to open in mid-2018, and will be joined by the relocated Avonside Girls’ and Shirley Boys’ High Schools, which are scheduled to open in 2019.
Speaking to Avonside Girls’ principal Sue Hume at a recent senior school graduation it was inspiring to hear the excitement in her voice as planning for the new public private partnership (PPP) ramps up with the focus on breaking ground at the beginning of 2017’s second quarter. Not only does the system provide for greater hands-on input, the resulting facilities are going to be far superior to what has been available in the past. Having this educational/public sports and recreation hub established on the former QEll site will unquestionably be a massive asset in the east for many years to come.
It’s definitely exciting times for the north-east with a proliferation of new residential development, state of the art educational facilities being constructed and the massive expansion of Burwood Hospital. The flow on effects to residential property values in the local area are likely to be significant.