Slowly but surely the new and improved Fraser Park is rising out of the ground, as the multimillion-dollar renovation nears completion.
Contractors could finally get stuck in late last year and since then, progress has been rapidly visible, especially for the multipurpose pavilion and function centre.
Rooney Group site manager Les Buckingham said it was well on schedule for an April or May opening.
‘‘We’ve got most of the roof on, so now we are working on the inside of the pavilion. The hope is the windows might go in next week.
‘‘Basically at the moment, everything is just getting closed in and the goal is to have it all closed in by the end of the month.’’
Setbacks because of Covid and increased global material costs played a big part in delays to proposed opening dates, but Fraser Park Trust chairman Brent Isbister said now that it had got started, everything had been running smoothly.
‘‘Once we got through Covid and, importantly, got the rest of the funding, the contractors have been on track,’’ Mr Isbister said.
‘‘The hold-up was getting our part sorted before they arrived. It’s actually running really well at the moment,’’ he said.
Project redevelopment manager Phillipa Guerin said getting extra funding really allowed them to start progressing.
The ‘‘crunch date’’ for the project was October 27 last year
— ‘‘that’s when we received critical funding from the government as well as extra funding from the Timaru District Council’’.
‘‘That really made us push we were able to properly start and it’s been all go since then.’’
Mr Buckingham said there was still a list of things they hoped to achieve before the end of the year. ‘‘What’s critical is getting the front done and the far ramp done so that no equipment has to go on the field.’’
It was also hoped the hybrid field would be in place by mid-December, Mr Buckingham said.
South Canterbury Rugby chief executive Tim Hyde-Smith said he could not wait to have access to the new facility.
‘‘It would have been great to start the season with it, but if we have it by final series time I think that will be really good — that would about June, July, which would lead into the Heartland season, which starts on August 17.’’
Having the facility ready would bring a lot of high profile sport to the region, he said.
‘‘Having a full Heartland season would be ideal, then hopefully we can attract some higher-profile games.
‘‘New Zealand Rugby is actually looking at that already and so are Canterbury Rugby, so they are already talking about how they can bring some games to us, which will be great.’’
Mr Isbister said they had enough funding in place to complete the job but were still seeking a little more.
‘‘We’re looking to, if we can, get another $400,000 or $500,000 over the line. If we can get that little bit more across the line, it means we can carry a little bit less debt, which will be a good thing for the sports bodies and for Fraser Park.’’
Mrs Guerin said it had been a massive team effort to get to where they were now, but she was especially thankful for the support of one individual.
‘‘Gary Rooney and the Rooney Group have really made it possible. We wouldn’t have got off the ground without his help.
‘‘He is a big backer of sport and the arts in the community, so we want to give a special thanks to him.’’
Mr Hyde-Smith was also thankful to Rooney Group, as well as Thompson Construction and Engineering for their work.
‘‘They’ve both got right in behind it all and it’s great to see how quickly it has risen out of the ground.’’
Mr Isbister was very much looking forward to completing the project.
‘‘We can’t wait to get into it and be at the back end of the build and start using it — that’s what it’s really all about,’’ he said.
