Blenheim’s new A&P pavilion to break ground in November

Kira Carrington, Local Democracy Reporter

Work on a long-awaited new pavilion at Blenheim’s A&P Park is to begin in November, immediately after this year’s A&P show.

Updates on the project were presented to the Marlborough District Council assets and services committee last Tuesday, including a first look at concept images for the new building.

Construction was expected to take a year, starting just after the 2025 Marlborough A&P Show on November 8, and being completed in time for the 2026 show.

Parks and open spaces manager Jane Tito described the building as a “pretty amazing area”.

“You can look straight through the building,” Tito said. “And it’s on a raised area, so there will be bleacher or grass viewing as well.”

Sports clubs and other park users would have full access to the showgrounds during construction.

Councillor David Croad said the plans were “fantastic”. “This has been a long-held ambition for the community,” Croad said.

“It’s been bumped in [long term plans] on multiple occasions, and I’m pleased to see it come back to fruition.”

The current pavilion building was more than 50 years old, according to aerial imagery, the committee agenda said.

The building was damaged in the 2016 earthquake, requiring earthquake strengthening to allow community use for another few years. In 2019, the council conducted a feasibility study, and found that redeveloping the existing building wasn’t a viable option. Croad said that regardless of the earthquake risk, the building was not fit for purpose.

“I think it’s really important to recognize that even though the paper says earthquakes ... that building has been old for a long time,” Croad said.

“As a person that’s participated in sport up there, and my kids up there, a lot over the decades, anybody that’s ever used those changing rooms [knows] it’s not been fit for purpose for a very, very long time.”

The project was to cost $5.9 million in total. The council had set aside $2.2m in the 2021 Long Term Plan, and a further $3.7m in the 2024 Long Term Plan.

Tito said that while the project was mostly loan-funded, a portion of the cost would be pulled from the Land Subdivision Reserve. The Land Subdivision Reserve was a levy charged to new subdivision developers, to account for the effect of housing growth on increased use of parks and open spaces. The reserve currently had a balance of about $1.5m. Croad said that while the project was taking place in tough economic circumstances, it was important for ratepayers to know they were not paying for this building today.

“This is a project [that] some might argue the timing of it could be better, given the environment we’re in,” Croad said. “I think it’s important that people realise that this is included in our planning. This isn’t a new [project we’re] adding on.”

The new pavilion would be the home of Marlborough Football and the Marlborough A&P Association.

“Football continues to be one of the fastest growing sports in the region,” Tito said.
But several other community groups that used the current pavilion would be displaced, such as the Slot Car Club and Blenheim Canine Training Club.

While the Slot Car Club said they would find their own space, council staff were working with the Canine Training Club to find a new site, potentially at the Rewi Murray Reserve.