New sporting facility for Tauranga

A state-of-the-art gymnasium and sports centre will be built at ACG Tauranga, providing a new facility for the local community.

The development has been designed to be multi-purpose and to be used not only by the school's Physical Education department, but also for inter-collegiate sport and the local community at large.


The artist's impression of the new gymnasium/sporting facility to be built at ACG Tauranga.

ACG Tauranga principal Shawn Hutchinson says the facility will be an asset for Tauranga.

'We will be reaching out and welcoming sports, cultural and community groups to talk about how we can build long-lasting partnerships – not just about using or hiring a facility, but about making real connections so that our students are a part of the wider community.”

The gym will also provide space for assemblies and school productions, as well as lunch-time and after-school recreational programmes.

Construction started on June 20, with completion for use expected to be in early-2017.

'The completion of the sports complex will add to the exceptional facilities we already have,” says Shawn.

The three-level gym will be located at the heart of the ACG Tauranga campus, overlooking the sports fields. The gym floor will be a multi-purpose rubber compound to suit a wide range of codes, including badminton, basketball, netball and volleyball. There will also be sufficient court space for futsal and indoor soccer.

Covered viewing areas overlooking the proposed netball and tennis courts will provide seating for up to 500 spectators. The ground floor will include courts, four changing rooms, and PE staff offices and storage. A fitness centre and open area with kitchen facilities will be housed on the first floor, with three classrooms on the second floor.

Waikato Bay of Plenty Football's futsal development officer Joe Dixon says the facility will be an asset for the local sporting community.

'Tauranga has some really good facilities, but they are all well used,” says Joe.

'To have a new, high-quality facility such as this one can only be good for the community – especially as the city continues to grow in population.”

Joe hopes the new facility will facilitate more competition and integration between the Waikato and Bay of Plenty sides of the WaiBOP organisation.

'The location of ACG Tauranga is ideal for teams travelling from the Waikato. It would be great to see more competition between Bay of Plenty and Waikato.”

Bay of Plenty regional councillor John Cronin says the facility will be 'an amazing asset of absolute benefit to the community”, complementing the growth of Tauranga.

'It's brilliantly located in an area where the population is rapidly growing. While there are other sporting facilities, it's great to have this in that area around The Lakes,” says John, who has a grandchild at ACG Tauranga.

'To have this facility being available to the public puts the icing on the cake, and shows the benefits of independent schools being part of the community.”

ACG worked closely with Babbage Consultants to design the facility, which will be built by Hawkins Construction.

ACG Tauranga, which is Tauranga's first independent school for Year 1-13 students, opened in January 2015. The co-ed and secular school currently has students enrolled in Years 1-10, and will increase incrementally to Year 13.

ACG Tauranga is the only school in Tauranga based on the Cambridge Curriculum, starting from primary school.

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1 comment

Great

Posted on 25-06-2016 15:17 | By Crash test dummies

So no need of a TCC provided elitist facility is there?


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