Later this month, Trustpower Arena at Baypark will celebrate ten years since its doors first opened in 2011 with a free family fun day.

The popular venue at Baypark, which is managed by Bay venues on behalf of Tauranga City Council, has welcomed over four million visitors in the past decade.

The free Family Fun Day on Sunday August 29, will feature free entertainment, sporting activities, Tumble Time, a giant cake and much more to represent the diverse activities that have taken place in the venue since it first opened.

Before the Arena was constructed, the only large sports centres in the city were the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre in Tauranga and the Mount Action Centre, a converted storage warehouse in Mount Maunganui.

In 2005, it was recognised that a new recreation/event space was needed for the growing city and what better location than the 17 hectares of useable space, with great carparking and a relatively central location, on Truman Lane at Baypark.

Research was undertaken and a concept was settled upon, architects and contractors engaged and in early-2010, the first earthworks took place, with then-Mayor Stuart Crosby officiating.

In late-August 2011, the new venue, then-named the TECT Arena to recognise TECT's financial contribution to the project, was opened on time and within budget; a testimony to the skills of those managing the project.

Bay Venues Director and Tauranga City Council General Manager: Community Services, Gareth Wallis, says the Arena has been a great success, filling a much-needed role as a high-quality indoor sports and entertainment venue.

'The value it provides has been demonstrated time and again and there's no doubt that the Arena has become an icon facility for the city,” says Gareth. 'We look forward to an equally-successful second decade, and to the development of the other community facilities our growing city needs.”

The first event held at the Arena was the NZ Wrestling Championships, followed closely by the popular Police Charity Luncheon. This was the first catered event in the new venue, with just over 1,000 people in attendance. Community sports such as netball, basketball and volleyball started soon after and the community responded positively, with over 250,000 users in the first nine months.

Bay Venues Commercial Manager Ervin McSweeney says the venue has gone from strength-to-strength.

'Since it's opening, the Arena's patronage increased every year until the COVID outbreak in 2020 rudely interrupted that record,” says Ervin.

Today, the Arena hosts a wide range of events ‒ from sports leagues, Magic netball games and Tumble Time, to Home Shows, concerts, and gala dinners.

'One of the early highlights was the setting up of an indoor tennis court for an international Davis Cup tennis match. The most successful indoor concert has probably been the Beach Boys in 2015 which attracted a sell-out crowd, but Bay Dreams takes the cake for the biggest event,” says Ervin.

So, what's next for the Arena?

"It's bursting at the seams," says Ervin. 'And as Tauranga continues to grow, it's great to see that the Council is looking to invest in the city's amenities in an equally-inspiring way to when the Arena was originally created."

For more information on the free Family Fun Day being held to commemorate the Arena's ten-year anniversary, visit trustpowerbaypark.co.nz. The free Family Fun Day will be held at the Trustpower Arena at Baypark from 10am to 3pm on Sunday August 29.