Around 2500 students delivered a powerful haka to mark the official opening of the long-awaited Bentley Pavilion at Macleans College last week.
The haka, which is written specifically for Macleans College, was used to welcome special guests including principal Steven Hargreaves, former principal Byron Bentley, Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown and Board of Trustees chair Richard Wilkie.
After a waiata by the Macleans College kapa haka group and a karakia and blessing, guests were invited into the Bentley Pavilion for the very first time.
The pavilion, honouring former principal Byron Bentley, overlooks the new turf, oval and the existing courts at the Macleans College sports facility on Oliver Road.
It features two large changing rooms, showers, toilets and an entertainment area with a large kitchen.
The site is large enough to also accommodate a boat shed for the storing of the rowing boats that belong to the school’s rowing club and storage for the grooming machinery, mowers and rollers that are required for the maintenance of the turf and cricket wicket and oval respectively.
It was paid for with money raised by the Board of Trustees.
Guests were treated to a musical item by students Danielle Tweedale and Reuben Chung who sung Welcome Home by Dave Dobbyn.
They were also given insight into the journey Macleans College has been through to get to the state of the art sporting facilities they have now.
The new pavilion will support the school’s sporting curriculum.
