Double celebration for Lyttelton community
Double celebration for Lyttelton community
The Lyttelton community is invited to celebrate two bits of good news this Saturday 20 February – the opening of the newly-repaired Lyttelton Recreation Centre, which has been closed for earthquake repairs since December 2011, and the opening of the new temporary Lyttelton Library in the adjacent Trinity Hall.
The openings will be marked with a community event, MCed by writer and local resident Joe Bennett, at which Mayor Lianne Dalziel and Banks Peninsula Councillor Andrew Turner will officially reopen the Recreation Centre. This will be followed by performances and plenty of activities for the public to have a go at including basketball, karate, football, squash, pirate-hat-making and storytelling sessions, plus a chance to check out the children's art display.
"The Lyttelton Rec Centre played a big part in the everyday, pre-quake life in Lyttelton, so its return is most welcome," Mayor Dalziel says.
"Before it closed in December 2011, the centre would get more than 22,000 bookings each year, and served as the primary Civil Defence Emergency Centre for Lyttelton," she says. "Now it's back, and the community has a familiar space for activities and for meeting up. Along with the pop-up library, which means customers don't have to miss out on their regular visits in 2016, Lyttelton has real cause to celebrate with us this weekend."
Lyttelton Recreation Centre's sports hall doubles as a large assembly space for events and supports basketball, badminton, volleyball, indoor football, indoor bowls, dance, yoga, pilates, group exercise, and foundation movement skills for children. Christchurch City Council has repaired and strengthened the building and made significant improvements including soundproofing, upgrading the ventilation system, re-roofing the office and squash courts and improving the fit-out.
The temporary Lyttelton Library opened on Monday 15 February, and will remain until repairs are completed on the permanent Lyttelton Library on London Street, which is expected in December 2016. The library is also being refurbished, and will include a Customer Service Desk.
"This temporary Library is the result of the community and Council staff working hand-in-hand to find a suitable space that works for everyone," Banks Peninsula Councillor Andrew Turner says.
"It's been a community-led solution, which led to a great collaboration, and obviously we've had a great outcome. The temporary library carries about 70 per cent of the permanent library's collection of items and also provides a space for the usual programmes to continue."
Opening celebrations for Lyttelton
Recreation Centre and the temporary Lyttelton Library
25
Winchester Street, Lyttelton
Saturday 20
February
10.30am–1pm
Present: Mayor Lianne Dalziel,
Cr Andrew Turner, Joe Bennett
ENDS