Pulman Arena, the cavernous indoor sports centre at Bruce Pulman Park, will be opened on Saturday.

The $29 million facility with a floor measuring 128m x 54m and a ceiling that is 15.05m high will be opened by Dame Valerie Adams and Auckland mayor Phil Goff.

It contains six netball, six basketball, six turbo touch, six Futsal and 12 volleyball courts.It has 1000 fabric covered permanent seats with an added capacity for an extra 3500 temporary ones.

The facility has taken five years to build and will be christened by a secondary basketball tournament at Easter and the World Masters Games' basketball.

The arena is the latest addition to the dream of Bruce Pulman, the Papakura philanthropist and founding partner of HEB Contractors which grew to become HEB Construction, one of the leading civil construction companies in New Zealand.

"My dream has been to provide high quality sporting facilities for our communities in Auckland south. These facilities also mean that our best athletes don't have to leave their community and their families to go play in other parts of Auckland or the North Shore, a trend that has been ongoing for the years. Family and community support is critical for success in both the sporting arena and in life.

"I've been a strong advocate of sport all my life. I believe that the attributes of good sportsmen and women is acquired through perseverance, dedication and commitment to training which leads them to being better equipped for business, life and community people and as role models for our youth."

The realisation of the dream began in 1990 when the then Papakura City Council bought land in Walters Rd for a proposed future reserve.

Pulman, whose construction company had developed Massey Park and its facilities in 1989, took up the challenge of both the development and management of this park.

Papakura Netball Centre's operations manager Briar Martindale says the Pulman Arena signals a new beginning for netball in Papakura and the Counties Manukau region"It's very exciting. Playing indoors is the way of the future for netball," she says.

"The Pulman Arena offers us so many different opportunities at both the competitive and social level. It means we can play all our representative and top club games indoors including the Super 14 and Regional Premier League."

 

Source:stuff.co.nz

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