Council have approved an option which will see Headon Event Centre’s original flooring removed and replaced.

In its meeting on 9 June 2021, Council were presented with three options which would see a resolution to the event centre’s damaged floor:                                                                      

• Fill all the gaps bigger than 2mm with a resin and leave room for the boards to expand as they continue to dry out

• Remove the current floor and replace it with a timber strand

• (Chosen option) Remove the current floor and replace it with high quality sports floor (tongue and groove, used at Silver Fern Farms Event Centre in Te Aroha)

While the most expensive option, at $130,000 for the flooring, Councillors agreed anything less than perfect wasn’t going to be good enough.  

“We owe it to the Matamata community to do it and do it properly,” said Cr. James Sainsbury. “This has been a frustrating process, for us and especially for the community and we don’t want to keep them waiting any longer.”         

Demolition to Headon Stadium began late in 2019, working around the original flooring, described by many users as superior.

By March 2020, construction crew received the mandate to down tools during COVID-19 Lockdown and with no one on site, rain got under the protective floor covering.    

The extent of the rain damage wasn’t apparent until the building had been complete and the floorboards began to warp. A sports floor specialist stated the floor could be dried out and saved. It would be a slow process but given Council had put so much effort into maintaining the floor, it was worth-while trying to save it.

However, after six months the floor was still significantly damaged and Council sought options to replace the floor, using construction insurance.   

“This is supposed to be an exciting time for the Matamata community to use the new building and it’s sitting there, with its doors shut. We need to change that and just get Headon finished,” said Mayor Ash.

“No one could have foreseen the events of 2020 and the larger implications that followed. COVID-19 isn’t an excuse for the delay in opening Headon’s doors, it’s a consequence and one we need to deal with. We just want to get it done and invite the community to use and enjoy it.”   

The original floor will be demolished and the contract for the new floor will go out for invited tenders.      

 

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