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Plans have been unveiled for two ice rinks – one for curling and the other for ice skating sports – in Silverdale, adjacent to Snowplanet.
The project is being driven by Ice Sports, a project team representing curling, ice figure skating, ice hockey and ice speed skating, which gave a presentation to the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board this month.
The estimated cost of the facility would be close to $15 million.
Ice Sports spokesperson Geoff Balme says the developers are hoping to reduce this cost by looking more closely at the design/layout, and material and structural options including potentially a tensioned fabric structure.
Mr Balme has a background in the development of sport facilities including hockey turfs in Hamilton, the Avantidrome Velodrome in Cambridge and the Naseby Ice Luge in Central Otago. He has been involved with the Olympic Winter Sports since the early 1980s and was the New Zealand Chef de Mission at the 1998 and 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Ice Sports sees the facility being developed as a community development rather than a private development, and a charitable trust is proposed as the entity to develop, own and operate the facility.
The group hopes to secure $5 million in funding from Auckland Council, as well as support from charitable funding bodies such as the Lottery Community Facilities.
“Significant Auckland Council support is essential to achieve the funding target and undertake the development,” Mr Balme says.
“It’s early days, but the signs are looking good that Council is prepared to take a serious look at this.”
If things go to plan, construction could start in 2022, with the rinks opening in 2023.
Mr Balme told the local board that Snowplanet was looking to develop an entertainment precinct to provide a wide variety of complimentary uses on its 14-hectare site.
“The addition of ice rinks to the Snowplanet site should provide synergies through economies of scale and offering additional recreation, and the sporting options should make an expanded complex even more attractive and financially viable.”
Snowplanet general manager Rojie Aguilar says the project offers some exciting opportunities to complement Snowplanet’s existing attractions.
“We’re very supportive and are working on an Agreement to Lease, which will put in place the commercial arrangements between Ice Sports and Snowplanet,” Mr Aguilar says.
Mr Balme says it would be reasonable to expect that new figure skating and hockey clubs would form on the North Shore if a rink existed.
As well as catering for organised sports, the rinks would be available for public skating sessions.
“Around the world most ice rinks rely on public skating to pay the bills. That is the case in New Zealand with 60 to 70 per cent of ice time being available to the public. At the two existing rinks in Auckland – in Avondale and East Tamaki – about two-thirds of the ice time is used by the public. That would be the scenario for this proposal, including extensive public luging.”
