Theatres, museums and libraries – heart of community

Published: 30 June 2024

Last Updated: 6 August 2024

Where do you go on a rainy day with busy kids? The library! Where do you have a birthday party in the middle of winter? The National Aquarium. How do you entertain a bunch of rowdy teens? Par 2 Mini Golf. Our city is full of top facilities that are loved by locals and help make Napier an attractive visitor destination.

There are 14 facilities under the care of Napier City Council including Kennedy Park Resort, MTG Hawke’s Bay, Ocean Spa, Faraday Museum of Technology and Bay Skate. Those facilities are major drawcards for tourists who tell us they are holiday highlights. Some of our other facilities are essential in the daily lives of our locals, places like the library or the Napier Aquatic Centre.

Our facilities are really important for community wellbeing. They provide places for social connection, for fitness and recreation, for inspiration and collaboration. They support people who are studying, raising kids, ageing gracefully. More and more, a good life needs places that are neither work nor home but somewhere in between. Spaces where people can meet up and work together, or explore a hobby or pastime, learn and share new skills. Places you can take kids on a rainy day!

We have been looking hard at how to best ensure the future of our facilities. Some are costly to run, some need essential remediation work, some aren’t quite fit for purpose and need an upgrade. All our facilities have potential and all of them are a valuable part of our social fabric. Some of them also have the ability to stand on their own feet financially and have a more commercial outlook in the future. We are looking closely at our facilities, not just in what they offer, but in some cases how they pay for themselves.

As much as I encourage you to use our facilities – whether it’s the pools, the theatres, the libraries or the museums – I also encourage you to look out for opportunities to give us your thoughts on their future.

It’s really important we hear from the community on their views and priorities as we work through plans for our facilities. Council facilities are, by their very nature, community facilities. They belong to the community and whatever future is planned for them needs to be done in collaboration with our community.

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