Two Dunedin schools - two new sports facilities.
Otago Boys' High School has almost finished the first stage of a revamp to its tennis courts, and King's High School is building a three-lane indoor cricket facility.
Otago Boys' tennis courts in Stuart St were long overdue for some work.
The bottom three courts have been resurfaced with multipurpose turf worth $160,000, and the once heavily graffitied retaining walls have been given a lick of paint.
Three working bees by staff members, pupils, old boys and neighbours helped remove surrounding vegetation, which has exposed the area to more sunlight.
The pavilion and changing facilities have also been refurbished.
Otago Boys' principal Richard Hall said the first phase cost the best part of $200,000.
The school received donations at its 150th jubilee in 2013 and it has also received grants from the Otago Community Trust, Marsh Foundation and Eion and Jan Edgar Charitable Trust.
Steve Mowatt Builders, Mitre 10 Mega, Valspar Paints and Programmed Property Services also chipped in, while the school's annual golf day in June also raised $8000.
New tennis nets have been ordered and are expected to be installed by the middle of next month.
In addition to tennis, the courts are marked for futsal and hockey.
Basketball hoops have been put up so people can ‘‘shoot hoops'' but the school's teams will not play on them, Hall said.
Since work began in January, Hall has received calls from the public asking if the facility will be available to use.
‘‘Yes it will be, as long as people respect it, obviously,'' he said.
‘‘I think there will be a lot of futsal games and soccer games, and that's great.''
Hall is now turning his eyes to stage two - the top three tennis courts.
He hopes work will start on stage two, which is expected to cost about $55,000, next month.
The three courts will be resurfaced with new asphalt and surrounding gardens will be spruced up.
Otago Boys' head of tennis Andrew Swan said there were 40 tennis players at the school but he hoped the revamped facilities would encourage more to play.
In South Dunedin, King's High School's new indoor cricket nets should be operating by the end of next month.
The 30m-long concrete slab was laid last week and the rest would not take long to go up, director of sport Dave Conrad said.
It was expected to cost about $300,000, but the school recently received a $60,000 community grant for the project.
The school had applied for other grants and was also fundraising, Conrad said.
The facility will be fully covered and be lit by LED lights.
The length will allow full bowler run-ups, and a bowling machine and video-recording equipment for players to analyse their game is also in the pipeline.
Conrad said it would be available to the community and was not designed to be a money-earner.
‘‘Because it's here, we will be using it during school time. But other people will be able to access it,'' he said.
‘‘We have got contributing schools and cricket clubs that gave us letters of support. Carisbrook Dunedin and Albion are keen to be able to use it. The only cost to them would be to make sure we cover electricity and stuff like that.
‘‘We've only got the Edgar Centre in Dunedin and it's very difficult to get into.''
King's High School has six cricket teams, but that should increase to seven when school starts next year.
Conrad said the new nets had created excitment and and he hoped they would boost player numbers at the school.
‘‘We could be using this at 7am or 8pm, that's the beauty of it,'' he said.
‘‘We're going to try and improve the standard of cricket so that these guys can go from here and be representatives of Otago teams.''
