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Cafe empty for opening BY DAISY HUDSON
DAISY.H@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
The Ashburton District Council is nearly at the end of a push to stem the flow of lost revenue at the EA Networks Centre. The council received several tenders for the centre’s café but it was not able to agree on lease terms with tenderers, meaning when the sports centre opens to the public on May 10 the café space will be empty. The café has since been put back out for tender, with expressions of interest closing at the end of business today.
The centre is expected to earn over $5.9 million in the next financial year, but it is unclear how the lack of income from the café will affect that budget. Of that $5.9 million, fees are expected to bring in $1.6 million, with a further $2.9 million coming from general rates. Council commercial manager James Webb said he could not comment on how much revenue would be lost while the café remained closed, saying the information was commercially sensitive. He also declined to comment
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on how many expressions of interest the council had received for the café until tenders closed. The facility’s manager Steve Prescott said last week that only a small amount of revenue would be lost, and he expected the café to be open by the end of June. He said people would be able to buy food from vending machines at the facility in the meantime, with both healthy food and sweet treats available. The vending machines would bring in between $10,000 and $14,000 in commission per year,
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he said. Council capital projects manager Viv Eyberg said a local Provender franchise owned the vending machines. Mr Eyberg said the company was chosen both because it was local and because it was the only company to offer healthy food options. There will be three vending machines in the facility, he said. Mr Prescott said interest in the facility has been ramping up in recent weeks. Pre-sales for gym memberships had been high, and he aimed to have between 250 and
350 members signed up within the first six months. “It’s been very positive,” he said. “A lot of people are very keen to get a membership but they’re waiting until we open so they can come in and have a look, and decide what they want to do.” The cost of memberships ranged from $13 to $21 per week. The centre will be officially opened by deputy prime minister Bill English on Saturday, and will open to the public on May 10 at 10am. Ph 03 307 7900 to subscribe!
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