The Ashburton Sports Hall will be put up for sale, with developers and community groups already showing interest.
The Tancred Street hall has been owned and managed by the Ashburton Centennial Sports Hall Society since 1954, but the organisation wound up and gifted the building to the District Council in March.
The council considered a report behind closed doors last week and decided to sell, with the decision announced today.
The details of the report and how the councillors voted are yet to be released.
Council chief executive Hamish Riach said councillors considered the report about the building and decided to put it on the open market.
“We’ve already had interest from developers and community groups wanting to buy it, so council will run a tender process in the coming months.
“There was a good discussion at the meeting about whether the building should be sold for its commercial value or sold cheaply to a community group, who would then pay to bring it up to scratch.
“In the end, council agreed to look at all tenders and evaluate them on their merit.”
The council will advertise the tender process, and advise how and when offers for the building can be submitted.
At the end of the tender process, a report will go before councillors and they will decide on the successful bid.
In the meantime, the council will manage the existing bookings until the sports hall has been sold.
The site, once a livery stable, was converted into a sports stadium for the 1950 Canterbury Centennial.
It has been home to the Ashburton Rotary Club’s annual Bookarama fundraiser for most of its 47-years, raising over $1.5 million for community projects.
It is yet to be confirmed if this year’s event will still take place in the venue.
