In late June 2023 Hutt Valley Tennis celebrated a significant milestone as work to redevelop the
Mitchell Park Tennis Association facilities officially started.

Stage one of a three stage project is now underway which when completed will see a new Indoor
Tennis Court structure covering 4 new acrylic hardcourts established. The design of the indoor court
structure is a modern high tensile pvc/steel/concrete concept which will allow viewing from the
existing pavilion through the indoor courts to the middle and back bay tennis courts.

All going well the indoor structure is due for completion in November 2023. Stage 2 of the
development includes the construction of a new car park area behind the squash courts for 20 cars.

Stage 3 will see the current pavilion upgraded with new strengthening works and internal refit
improvements such as a new stairwell and reconfiguring of the entrance to improve on patron safety
and access.

These works are planned to take place over the next 12-24 months pending sign-off on
plans and the required levels of funding being in place.

The Mitchell Park site has been home to Hutt Valley Tennis since the 1950’s when 13 grass tennis
courts were installed by the Lower Hutt City Council and the then Hutt Valley Lawn Tennis
Association. A large clubhouse/pavilion was then officially opened by Mayor Percy Dowse in 1964
with extensions added in the 70’s and 80’s. The last major development was in 1984 at which point
the court surface changed from natural grass to a synthetic turf in an aim to reduce maintenance
costs and increase court playing times.

Since then, several attempts have been made to design and build an indoor tennis court structure
only to see plans knocked back time and time again during the planning stages.

Fast-forward to 2023 to where we finally have a site-wide redevelopment plan in place that has the
full support of our Clubs, the wider community and Council sign-off it is an extremely exciting time
for Hutt Valley Tennis. This particular plan has taken over 6 years to develop and with funding now
in place for Stage 1 which represents 80% of the overall site development budget we are confident
the remaining 2 stages will be completed quickly.

Over the 6 years a small but dedicated team of volunteers have invested thousands of hours and
resources to get the project to this point so knowing that the project is finally underway and
understanding the future opportunities such an asset provides makes all the effort worth it.

It has been a real team effort across multiple organisations to get the project to this point. Hutt
Valley Tennis will remain forever thankful for everyone’s contributions with a special mention to our
clubs, Hutt City Council, its officers plus the goodwill from neighbouring property owners such as
Vital Healthcare for your patience and support to see this project realised.

For future updates please watch this space or check out https://clubspark.kiwi/huttvalleytennis for
the latest news.