Work starts on new recreation and sport centre at QEII

It was all hands to the shovels when work got under way this week on the new recreation and sport centre at QEII Park.

Members of the local community give the thumbs-up to work starting on the new QEII Recreation and Sport Centre.

The community turned out in force to witness the first sod being turned on the site where the 4500 square metre centre will start to take shape over the coming months.

The new centre includes leisure and training pools, a hydroslide, an aquatic adventure playground, a steam room, sauna, fitness centre, and café. It is scheduled to open in the middle of next year.

The project will cost $37.7 million and is being funded largely by Christchurch City Council. The Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust has made a generous donation of $7.47 million for water attractions.

“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,’’ said Mayor Lianne Dalziel, who along with Cr David East, joined the community for this morning’s sod-turning ceremony.

The start of work on the centre marked a new beginning for the east, Ms Dalziel said.

Cr David East said the new QEII would, in some respects, be picking up where the previous facility left off.

An artist's impression of the QEII Recreation and Sport Centre.

The previous facility was badly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake and demolished in 2012.

“The old QEII pool underwent a pretty major revamp in the early 2000s, and the vision at that time was for a legacy for future generations – a jewel in the crown,” Cr East said.

“The 2011 earthquakes unfortunately put an end to that particular phase in the life of QEII, but a new chapter is about to begin, and that same vision lives on.”

Construction of the new recreation and sport centre is the first in a series of exciting developments planned for QEII Park. Last year the Council agreed to sell 11.5 hectares on south-eastern corner of the park to the Ministry of Education. It is going to build new schools for Avonside Girls’ and Shirley Boys’ High Schools on the land.