£350,000 YOUTH CENTRE

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27396, 8 July 1954, Page 8

£350,000 YOUTH CENTRE

AUCKLAND Y.M.C.A.

PLANS STADIUM AND CONCERT HALL “The Press” Special Service w . AUCKLAND, July 7. a E Y e . ry Provision for the welfare of Auckland s youth for the next 50 years is incorporated in the new youth centre planned for the Auckland Y.M.C.A. The building, which will cost £350,000 wiU have an area of 60,000 square feet. as the section slopes steeply, the new centre will be two-storey in the front and -five at the back. Besides providing facilities'to meet the physical, spiritual and cultural welfare of young people, the centre will provide one of the city’s pressing needs—a concert hall suitable for amateur dramatics, debating, luncheons, conferences and conventions. Thus it is hoped to make the establishment self-supporting. The association’s building committee aims at beginning the work to coincide with the Y.M.C.A. centenary next March. By the time an appeal is made to the public next August it is expected the association will have £150,000 in hand. When £200,000 is raised it is hoped to make a start on the building. The new centre’s main amenity will be a stadium 110 feet square ana capable of holding two full-size basketball courts, or alternatively eight badminton courts or an indoor tennis court The seating capacity for basketball or tennis will be 2000. For boxing or wrestling contests the stadium win hold 2800, which exceeds the seating capacity of the Auckland Town Hall for such eVents.

The stadium roof will be 40 feet above floor level and the whole end walls will be of glass. There is a suggestion that this hall might make an excellent auditorium for musical performances.

Another attraction will be a swimming pool measuring 75 feet by 25 feet, which conforms to international standards. It will serve for championship training and contests and will be used particularly in teaching water safety and life saving. A treatment plant and heating equipment will be installed. No facilities are provided in the new building for hostel accommodation, but the planning has been arranged so that a hostel section can be added on top of the building at a later stage. Other facilities will include a boy’s gymnasium and games room, a boardroom, business men’s facilities, including steam baths, a “work-out” gymnasium, lockers and squash courts. A member’s lounge and cafeteria have been planned as a separate wing opening on to an entrance court. There is to be a special gymnasium for “combat” sports and under the stadium •there will be a parking area for 20 cars.