An arena of streaming light
Inspired by Jubilee Bush of old, where light flowed through the tall tree canopy, Claudelands Events Centre will be transformed into a futuristic gathering place
By KATE MONAHAN - Waikato Times | Saturday, 29 November 2008ANTICIPATION: Hamilton City Council event facilities manager Mark Christie is excited with the Claudelands plans.
Next you drive through Claudelands, take a good look at the old events centre. Boxy buildings, fading blue and aquamarine walls, peeling paint.
A tired, drab monolith, built in 1954, it's been added on to over the years, a cobbled, clunky patchwork of a building.
Keep this image in your memory, because in two or three years, Claudelands Events Centre will look completely different. The heart of the leafy suburb on the east side of the Waikato River is about to have a makeover.
After four or more years of planning, this month the Hamilton City Council applied for resource consent to build a 5000-seat capacity indoor arena on the 12ha site.
A 1500-capacity conference centre and upgraded exhibition hall are also on the cards, along with new landscaping, parking and indoor-outdoor exhibition areas.
At night, the new building will glow, sending coloured light over a landscaped plaza. Thousands of people could be streaming in to watch an international rock concert or basketball game, walking into an eco-friendly building, cushioned in state-of-the-art acoustics.
An architectural marvel, designed by Anthony Flannery of Chow Hill, the new multifunctional Claudelands Event Centre will cost $61 million (plus inflation) and is set to be complete by the end of 2010.
By 2011, it could be buzzing with activity, enhancing the cultural life of the city, and bringing people and money into the region with large-scale national and international business conferences, banquets, exhibitions and trade shows.
Event promoters and conference organisers say the developments are long overdue, and supporters say it's time the fourth largest city in New Zealand had a facility of this level.
However, not all local residents are happy about the new developments. The high price tag, noise, traffic and parking issues top the list of concerns, and some have already sent off submissions opposing the centre.
ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON, a smattering of people wander into the old events centre on the corner of Heaphy Tce and Brooklyn Rd to see what all the fuss is about.
It's the council's public open day and key staff are buzzing around a series of colourful information boards in the Waldorf Lounge, chatting to locals.
Council event facilities manager Mark Christie can't disguise his passion for the project. For him, it's been four years in the planning, and his eyes sparkle with boyish enthusiasm as he shows off the drawings and artist's impressions of the new building.
The area has a fascinating history. It's been native bush, farmland, and a galloping and trotting track. Before the Te Rapa racecourse was established in the 1920s, people travelled to Claudelands for a day of horse racing, often by train, disembarking at the Claudelands station on Brooklyn Rd.
The council bought the land in 1999 from the Waikato Show Trust, and development of the events centre has been on the radar for several years, woven into the council's 2009-19 long-term council community plan.
A key focus has been the arena. A feasibility study showed Hamilton was lacking a concert venue. Founders Theatre has capacity for 1250, while the arena will fit 5000. "It'll be like the Vector Arena but smaller," says Christie, excited at the potential.
The 2200sq m arena will have fixed and retractable seats, enabling it to morph from a four-sided sports stadium to a three-sided C-shape concert stadium with a stage at one end. There is also capacity to turn the room into a plenary mode for conferences.
The exhibition area is expanding to a total of 1000sq m, with two halls.
There are conference areas and break-out spaces and function rooms throughout the site, which means both large and small groups can be accommodated.
The Waikato Home and Garden Show (in October) or NZ National Motorhome & Caravan expo (in March) will fit, but so too will 1500-strong Australasian medical or agricultural industry conferences.
And it's all within 10 minutes' walk of the city centre, close to the city's hotels, bars and cafes.
The team behind the arena is quietly optimistic. "It will be something to be proud of," says Christie. "It is a sign of a city growing up. It's time Hamilton had something like this."
It's still subject to feedback from the community. The public has until December 17 to make submissions on the resource consent to build the arena. The plans have been peer-reviewed by promoters and facility users, and many have given them the thumbs-up.
Music promoter Ian Magan, director of Auckland-based Pacific Entertainment, brings international performers such as Billy Connolly and Westlife to New Zealand. He believes the arena is long overdue for a city of 140,000. "Hamilton has always been limited. There is Founders Theatre and Mystery Creek, and they are two extremes. Mystery Creek is not built as an entertainment pavilion. Founders Theatre is a good theatre, but it is a bit small for some productions, so any shows that need capacity for 2000 plus, they are forgoing looking to Hamilton when touring."
Magan says large arena type rock bands will still focus on Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch but the arena will attract more acts to Hamilton. "I think you can expect a 20 to 40 per cent increase in entertainment activity in the city."
Magan says it's not just musical acts. "You might get car shows, like the Top Gear show that's coming to Auckland, or magic shows, like David Copperfield. I think it's really great to see Hamilton coming of age with this type of facility, which is long overdue."
Professional conference organiser Amanda Graham, director of Hamilton-based Six Hats Conference Management, is also "really excited" by the possibilities of the 1500-capacity conference facilities.
"I've been a professional conference organiser for 15 years, and I've had large medical conferences, with Waikato based committees, that I've had to take out of Hamilton," says Graham. She says the venue is perfect for mid-range conferences which are "too big for Novotel or the Kingsgate, but are too small for Mystery Creek".
She says the economic spin-off implications for Hamilton are "huge". "There's accommodation and most conferences require at least three nights' accommodation, which is good news for motels and hotels." She sees Claudelands Events Centre on a par with the Energy Events Centre in Rotorua, SkyCity in Auckland or the Christchurch Convention Centre. "It will be up there with those facilities." Stu Freeman, editor of Meeting News, an industry magazine targeting conference organisers, corporate secretaries and chief executives, says he is looking forward to seeing how Claudelands develops.
"There is a lot of anticipation and awareness," says Freeman. He likes the multifunctional approach of the venue. "Many associations want to use exhibition space as well. Trade stands can help pay for a conference to a certain extent."
Freeman says New Zealand needs more conference facilities and he likes the council's approach, differentiating Claudelands from other good venues already in the area, such as Mystery Creek.
He says the conference market is "lucrative" for a city, but local residents need to be patient. "You are working two or three years out, so it's important that people give it a chance; it could be a couple of years down the track. But in this doom and gloom economy, the conference market is recession-proof. Companies don't tend to cancel conferences they have planned 18 months ahead."
NOT EVERYONE is so enamoured with the bright, hi-tech new development.
At the open day, a trio of older Claudelands residents, smartly dressed, survey the information.
The Mansfields live a few blocks away, and are concerned about the noise and roading. Resource consent allows the arena to operate seven days a week until 11pm (with egress until 11.30pm), with special consent sought for 12 extended events a year, where indoor arena entertainment noise and on-site traffic movements may exceed noise standards set out in the proposed district plan.
Mrs Mansfield, who is sick, is almost beside herself with worry. "It's the size and the noise. We came here for the quiet life," she says, clearly distressed.
She is concerned the boom-boom of concerts (called "impact events" by council, as opposed to daytime "flow-through events") will keep her up at night, when she should be resting.
"We can hear the rugby stadium from here and get interrupted sleep. I think a lot of people round here feel like me, but what can we do? We feel so powerless."
The couple have lived in the area for seven or eight years, and wonder if they might have to move after the arena is built and in use.
Husband John Mansfield, is also behind his wife in opposing the centre. The couple have already submitted against the council's resource consent.
"I don't see the need for a huge monstrosity here," says John Mansfield. "And they are spending millions of dollars of ratepayers' money on the place."
He is most worried about traffic, and how increased flow might create congestion, and be a danger for children. "A two-lane road is needed and turning bays, and I'm worried about travelling around this area, especially around school time (if there is an event on). And the noise, with events going until 11pm or 11.30pm, it's a residential area, not a commercial one."
People who live in the streets surrounding the centre are worried about concertgoers parking on their streets, grass verges and across their driveways. The council says the venue can manage enough parking for every scenario, and there will be a well-organised and rigorous traffic management system in place.
During big events and conferences, shuttle buses and carparking nodes in the CBD or Chartwell will help to reduce traffic around Claudelands. There will be regular communication with residents about events, and a hotline number to contact.
Some residents are concerned about how the site will affect local television reception. Others are worried about a rate hike to offset council borrowing $61 million to pay for the centre.
Top international firm Marshall Day Acoustics has been brought in to work with the architects on the project, designing the venue like an acoustic envelope or glove, to keep sound in.
However, there will be some noise impact on surrounding neighbours. It is likely that heavy metal and rock music concerts will pose the greatest problem, particularly low frequency bass beats which can travel through walls. Post-concert noise - breaking-down stages, moving equipment and machinery - may also be a problem the council hopes to mitigate.
The District Plan is strict, with allowable noise up to 40 decibels (about the level of a refrigerator hum) between 11pm and 6am. Bass beats aren't covered in the District Plan. However, testing of the potential impact of an AC/DC type rock concert on Claudelands indicates noise levels will not be severe. "During quiet times, if you were just sitting there with the TV off, you would be able to hear a low heavy beat," says Christie. "But you would not hear it if the TV was on or traffic were going past."
Julie Jay was another local mum at the open day. She lives on East St, opposite Jubilee Bush. "My biggest thing is the parking. I use the (adjacent) park for walking my dog. I'm concerned about the trees going. I don't want it to be a concrete jungle. I'm hoping they treat it sensitively."
There are currently 932 parking sites, and that will grow to 1369 under the new consent. For larger events, the grassy oval can be used for extra parking, accommodating 1500 cars.
Despite her concerns about parking, Jay is also excited about how Claudelands will change. "It's an old, tired, ugly building," says Jay. "It would be good to have a venue like the Energy Events Centre in Rotorua, and bring good rock acts here." She says it signals a coming of age for Hamilton. "We've got to be a grown-up city. We can't be `cow town' forever. We are the fourth largest city in the country now. We need something of this calibre."
For more information on the Claudelands Event Centre see www.claudelands.co.nz. To make a submission on the resource consent application to build the Claudelands Arena, contact the Hamilton City Council's Planning Guidance Unit on 07 838 6614. Submissions close December 17.
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