Whangamatā Surf Life Saving Club needs $500,000 to complete the refurbishment of its clubrooms, with the project now estimated to cost about $300,000 more than anticipated.

In April, Whangamatā Surf Life Saving Club manager Dianna Harrison said it had $300,000 left to raise towards its $2.5 million target.

This week Harrison said the club had an estimated funding gap of about $500,000, reflecting a total project cost that was $300,000 more than initial projections.

“The design changes we have had to make for structural and safety reasons, along with the new internal and external features, have bumped up our funding needs.”

Physical work to refurbish the club buildings started after Easter, with funding in place to cover the cost of the primary renovation and remediation work; however, extra funding was needed to properly refresh sveral internal spaces and provide some “aesthetic” features.

An artist impression of the redeveloped Whangamatā Surf Life Saving Club.

The project timeline has been extended to accommodate modifications to the original plans.

“These changes have been required to respond to a number of unknowns discovered during the demolition stage and, more importantly, to reflect some external and internal enhancements generated by discussions over Easter.

“Our original design and plans, for budget reasons, were largely based on exterior and structural remediation and renovation with many internal spaces and features remaining largely untouched.

“The revised plans reflect exterior and interior enhancements to the club which will enhance operational and member experience, both aesthetically and functionally.”

The renovations would now encapsulate refitting the ground floor space to expand female changing and shower facilities, reflect the gender balance of lifeguards, provide more privacy for patients in the first aid facility, ensure floor surfaces and suitable drying facilities so the ground floor is an appropriate “wet” space, avoiding the impact of sand and water on the upper floor areas.

Larger skylights would be installed, and window/door heights would be raised to improve natural lighting on the first floor.

The first aid room, toilets, kitchen and meeting areas would be upgraded to provide the ambience and functionality to the spaces created by the main renovations, including durable floor coverings to minimise the impact of sand and water.

It would provide more balance for better disabled and elder access to club spaces.

Ventilation and heating throughout both floors would be improved with specific focus on the downstairs toilet and changing room areas.

The electrical distribution and wiring would be improved throughout the club to ensure the extended patrol tower had fit-for-purpose electrical and data capability.

New outdoor showers would be installed along with a fit-out of the extended patrol tower/mezzanine area and public access area.

The new Whangamatā Surf Life Saving Club clubrooms in 1967.

New exterior supports would be added to enable extended shading across the decks and the front of the club.

Harrison said the club received strong support from Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Trust Waikato, along with significant contributions from the Lotteries Board and several individuals connected with the club and the Whangamatā community.

The refurbishment was launched in 2022 as Project Transform, when a building report identified issues with the 55-year-old facility.

The report described the facility as “worn out, structurally defective, does not meet the required seismic standards, and doesn’t work well for its purpose”.

Because the building had largely withstood the extreme conditions posed by its beachfront location, and the basic foundations remained sound, the project committee decided to design the new facility around the existing structural framework, “saving the huge extra cost of a complete rebuild”.

-Waikato Herald.