Facelift planned for Tokoroa Memorial Sportsground
Two buildings will soon be removed from the Tokoroa Memorial Sportsground as part of a total building rationalisation exercise at the grounds.
By the end of June the announcer's box and the St John building will be removed and the area reinstated appropriately. These buildings are disused and require significant maintenance. The St John building is used as storage which has been catered for in the new toilet block that was built with a specific storage area for community and sporting groups.
"All groups' requirements for storage for relevant and used equipment will be catered for now and into the future," said Craig Hobbs, Council's Chief Executive.
The driver behind Council's building rationalisation project is to remove buildings that are disused or used irregularly, becoming unkempt and unsafe and incurring increasing maintenance costs to keep them in a safe state of repair. An independent survey of the sportsground was conducted in 2010 and this survey formed the basis for many decisions.
Staggered over the latter half of 2015, further change is on the cards for a number of buildings including the East Bowling Club, Highland Pipeband, Axemen's, the Rugby Referees A-frame and the Tokoroa High School Old Boys building. The East Bowling Club, Highland Pipeband and the A-frame will be removed by the end of the year after the groups belongings are relocated appropriately and the groups themselves are successfully up and running at other suitable venues.
The Axemen's building is a solid structure, currently used a few times a year by the Axemen themselves. This group is happy to collaborate with other groups, creating valuable partnerships and collaboration between organisations.
A revamp of the Axemen's building is on the cards in the future to tie in with the overall facelift of the grounds.
Love Soup is currently operating out of the East Bowling Club rooms; and Council is liaising with the operator to move to a different venue. Council is very keen to see Love Soup continues its excellent community work.
Council is also negotiating with the Trust responsible for the Tokoroa High School Old Boys building and decisions regarding its future will be made towards the end of its current lease in 2017.
Council is working with all of the current owners and users to better utilise remaining spaces and move to other more suitable venues and is pleased with the progress made on this project.
"Council looks forward to working with the various relevant groups and is keen to support partnerships and synergies that can be achieved," said Mr Hobbs. "Collaboration will certainly play a key role in giving the Tokoroa Memorial Sportsground surrounds a facelift."
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