03 May 2011 Event centre dedicated

Lincoln township’s new $7 million Event Centre was dedicated on Saturday (30 April) in a ceremony involving iwi, Council, church, university and community representatives.

The impressive multi-use, multi-purpose building, located off North Belt at the north end of Williams Street, will become the “cultural and recreational heart of Lincoln”, said the Chairman of the Event Centre Committee, Alan Stevens.

“The dedication was an essential first step before the first public use of the Centre, which has happened this week. An official public opening ceremony will be held in the near future.”

The whole Centre complex encompasses the old Lincoln Domain and adjacent complementary facilities such as the netball and tennis courts, Lincoln Bowling Club’s greens, the rugby club grounds and the recently dedicated Lincoln War Memorial Wall.

Inside, the Centre is designed for indoor sports and fitness activities, meetings, functions and events of all sorts, for example Lincoln University will hold its 2011 Lincoln Graduation Ceremony there this Friday (6 May)  -  the Centre’s first major public event.

Selwyn’s Mayor Kelvin Coe spoke at the dedication along with Kaumatua of Te Taumutu and Ngati Moki, Ngai Te Ruahikihiki; the Rev Kim Peters, representing the Christian community of Lincoln; Dr Surinder Tandon, representing Lincoln’s multi-ethnic communities; Professor Hirini Matunga, representing Lincoln University; and Mr Stevens, Chair of the Event Centre Committee.

Activities at the Centre started this week, and Manager David Pryor has compiled a comprehensive programme of activities for all ages. A particularly exciting proposal, supported by Christchurch City Choir Music Director Brian Law, is for the choir and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra to perform at the Centre in the near future.

The committee thanks Selwyn District Council and other agencies for funding; architect Ian Krause for the concept, design and supervision of construction; and C. Lund and Son Ltd for the building work.