Palmerston North City Council is moving ahead with plans to build a new Arena 5. It will be located on the green space at the corner of Cuba and Pascal Streets.
The current Arena 5 is an earthquake-prone building. Under existing legislation, it must either be strengthened by January 2039 or decommissioned.
However, the government has recently announced changes to the way earthquake-prone buildings are assessed. These changes may affect the current Arena 5’s classification. Council is awaiting further guidance from central government alongside the engineer's advice to understand what this will mean.
While the building’s earthquake-prone status is one factor, there are several other important drivers behind the decision to develop a new Arena 5.
In 2024, Council commissioned the Multi-use Indoor Courts and Covered Outdoors Courts Study. This confirmed the need for additional indoor court space to meet growing community demand.
This need has also been highlighted through feedback from the community and commercial users, national sporting organisations (NSOs), and organisers of several national sporting tournaments. These events require more court capacity to operate successfully – and they provide significant benefits for the city’s hospitality, retail, and accommodation sectors.
To protect existing events and help create new opportunities, Council agreed to fund the development of a new Arena 5 through the Long Term Plan (2024-34). This investment helps ensure Palmerston North continues to attract and host major tournaments and events, strengthening our role as a key regional sporting hub.
The new arena will take pressure off Arenas 3 and 4, which are used heavily by local community sports associations.
It is being designed to be a multi-functional space to support a wide range of activities, including indoor sports and community events.
It will include flexible court space designed to meet growing demand from the community. This need was highlighted in the Arena Masterplan and backed by feedback from local sports codes.
Read more about the Arena Masterplan(PDF, 13MB)
It’s likely the current and new Arena 5 facilities will both operate for a number of years before the current Arena 5 is either upgraded to meet earthquake code or decommissioned. The impact of recent changes to earthquake-prone building regulations will be factored into this process once more information is available.
The Council are currently considering different options for the type of building that will be built.
The project will follow a Design-and-Build model. This means a contractor will be appointed early to both design and construct the arena. This approach saves time and money by cutting out the usual tendering phase between design and construction.
The key milestones are:
- Early 2026 – Contractor appointed and detailed design phase begins
- Mid 2026 – Construction begins
- Mid 2027 – Construction complete. Final handover to follow, with the facility fully operational
We’re working with a user group - made up of sporting and community groups that use the current Arena 5 or are expected to use the new one - to make sure the new facility meets the community’s needs. This group will work with the Project Architect in the first stage of design for this project.
We’ll work to minimise disruption across the precinct during the construction phase. Access to all other arenas and facilities will remain open throughout the project.
We’re looking at how parking and pedestrian access will be supported during and after construction.
We’ll share more updates as the project progresses.