Plans for a 5600-seat grandstand as part of a $40 million upgrade of the Queenstown Events Centre have stalled as a new Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) takes over management of Queenstown Lakes district leisure facilities.
Plans for the grandstand were unveiled last March, with expectations then that construction would begin later this year, with project completion in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
However, the project has been thrown into doubt with the transfer late last year of management responsibilities from the non-profit Queenstown Events Centre Trust to the Queenstown Lakes District Council's new CCO, Lakes Leisure Ltd.
The trust and Queenstownbased businessman Eion Edgar were the driving forces behind the grandstand development, but the CCO and new chief executive Roger Coleman now have responsibility for managing council-owned leisure facilities.
Mr Coleman told the Otago Daily Times yesterday the proposed stadium, and the wider Queenstown Events Centre upgrade, were ‘‘on the backburner'' and would remain so until reassessed by the CCO's new board.
The CCO was not expected to be formally signed off until a full council meeting later this month, and Mr Coleman said it could be several months before the proposed grandstand was even looked at.
It was unlikely the project would proceed this year, although the board aimed to pursue projects undertaken by the previous trust where possible, he said.
The grandstand development would have to be reassessed alongside other projects across the district, with funding arrangements and an existing design re-evaluated for due diligence reasons,
A proposal could then be taken to council for funding if given the ‘‘green light'' by the CCO board members, he said.
He declined to comment when asked how likely it was the grandstand development would proceed, but believed it could still be built in time for the RWC 2011 if approved by the CCO and supported by council.
‘‘At this stage, it's not on the agenda to start. Those discussions have to be held with the council and stakeholders, and that hasn't happened. There's probably a few hurdles along the way.''
Mr Edgar said when contacted he believed the grandstand had the support of the CCO's board members, and was confident it would proceed and be built in time for the 2011 tournament. He said he had agreed to help former QEC Trust chairman Jeff Turner attract private donors for the project, to make the proposal more attractive to council.
However, funding arrangements, originally expected to be confirmed late last year, were yet to be finalised, with potential private donors and charitable trusts unwilling to commit until the grandstand was approved by Lakes Leisure Ltd, he said.
The design for a 5600-seat grandstand was finalised last year, and council's decision to defer the proposed $89.4 million Remarkables Park arts centre in Queenstown meant it was ‘‘a great time to look to build'', he believed.
The entire QEC development project, expected to cost between $35 million and $40 million, included an expanded auditorium, more tiered indoor seating and squash courts, to be built over three stages.
The grandstand would occupy the southern end of the main oval.
