Replacing many of the facilities destroyed at QEII, Christchurch's newest outdoor sports facility is on track for its official opening in October.
At a cost of more than $50 million, the Ngā Puna Wai sports hub will be for elite as well as community use.
Retired engineer and athletics administrator Alan Tucker is a key figure behind the new track at Ngā Puna Wai. It's estimated, along with others, he's devoted 4000 hours to the project.
"It's far and away the best facility in New Zealand now," he says.
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Track and field was hard hit by the damage to QEII in the 2011 earthquakes, with many athletes having to travel two hours south to Timaru for top-level competition.
"The big numbers are with kids' athletics, and that's something we are really looking forward to - to see literally hundreds of kids on Saturday mornings," said Mr Tucker.
Despite part of the track being vandalised earlier this year, it's on track to be officially opened in October.
The total cost of the new sports hub is $53 million. It will feature two water-based hockey turfs, two rugby league grounds and 12 outdoor tennis courts.
Christchurch City Council's David Bailey says as well as being an asset for the community, some major sports events have already been locked in - including the national track and field championships for the next two years.
"The smart thing is to bring four sports together so you need one car park, one sewage pipe, all the boring stuff," he said.
"If you had four sites, you would have to have to pay for those things four times."
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