Snow Sports New Zealand (SSNZ) is hoping to relocate its Wanaka headquarters to bigger premises within the town and set up a high-performance gym for exclusive use by the country's top athletes.
SSNZ has applied for resource consent for an internal fit-out of the former Placemakers building at 78 Anderson Rd, to establish a 370sq m non-commercial training and recovery centre and a 250sq m office space for its staff.
SSNZ chief executive Marty Toomey said the project, which was still dependent on securing funding, involved relocating from the organisation's existing premises in Reece Cres.
Additional office space was required because staff numbers had increased as a result of SSNZ taking over the administration of the Winter Performance Programme on June 1, which was historically governed by the New Zealand Academy of Sport South Island and High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ).
Mr Toomey said there were several high-performance training facilities operating throughout New Zealand and the proposed Wanaka centre would become part of that network.
It would be run in conjunction with HPSNZ and would be available for use by about 650 athletes nationwide who had been "targeted by High Performance Sport New Zealand with the potential to deliver success on the world stage".
"Any of them who are in Wanaka would be able to access the facility," he said.
"It's all part of the deal of being recognised in that group."
For SSNZ, the biggest advantage of the project would be having all its athletes, coaches and staff under one roof.
The fit-out of the building would take about three months and ideally would be completed by the end of winter.
Establishing a Centre of Excellence for HPSNZ training programmes at the proposed sports facility at the Three Parks subdivision was "still on the cards".
The Anderson Rd centre could be a short to medium-term solution with potential to become part of the larger community sports facility in the future.
