A new option — adding another six indoor courts to the Queenstown Events Centre, up from the four proposed last year — emerged at a public workshop on Tuesday.
At the workshop, councillors questioned whether a new four-court stadium would provide enough capacity for the Wakatipu’s growing population.
Council consultant Greg Rozen told councillors a concept design tender process for a standalone stadium with four full-sized basketball courts, an 800sq m fitness centre and other facilities had been approved last April.
There was $46m already allocated for the project in the long-term plan and the preferred site was the grassed area west of the events centre’s main carpark.
However, because the decision had been made by the previous council, staff wanted councillors to review the proposal and provide fresh direction on the next steps.
Mr Rozen said the need for more courts at the events centre was first identified in 2018, and the issue had become increasingly acute.
The use of the facility’s two courts has more than doubled in the past decade, while the number of local sports groups wanting court time increased from 74 in 2014 to 294 in 2024.
Sport NZ had set a national benchmark that communities needed one court per 7600 residents, he said.
While Wānaka exceeded that benchmark by one court, the Wakatipu had a shortfall of four.
A new stadium would also allow Queenstown to host basketball, netball, volleyball and badminton tournaments at a regional, national or even international level.
Cr Samuel Belk asked if staff had considered building a six-court stadium, given by the time a four-court stadium was built, the events centre would be ‘‘right-sized or undersized’’, and have no extra capacity for population growth.
Cr Matt Wong agreed, saying now was the time to consider a bigger stadium ‘‘before it’s too late’’.
Cr Wong said Dunedin and Invercargill had stadiums that had been partly funded by private, third-party investors, and he suggested staff explore the potential for a similar approach at the events centre.
Even if the bigger option ultimately proves too expensive, putting it on the table now would allow the council to see if it was supported by the public, and ‘‘force us to get more innovative with our funding model’’.
While Cr Heath Copland was not opposed to a larger stadium in principle, he was concerned adding another option would drag out the decision-making process even longer — even if the council approved a four-court stadium this year, it was unlikely to open until 2030.
Rescoping the project would push that date out further, ‘‘and we’ll just go around in circles’’, Cr Copland said.
Community services general manager Ken Bailey said staff would report back to councillors in a fortnight on four-court and six-court options, including their estimated costs, and the potential for private investment.
