Invercargill ILT Velodrome

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The SIT Zero Fees Velodrome is an indoor velodrome at Invercargill in the South Island of New Zealand. The $11 million velodrome is an indoor complex next to Stadium Southland, built on the western side of the stadium proper. (The other New Zealand indoor velodrome is the Avantidrome, at Cambridge, in the North Island of the country).The SIT Zero Fees Velodrome also acted as a home for the Southern Steel netball side and Southland Sharks basketball team from 2011 to 2013, after the collapse of Stadium Southland in September 2010, following a freak Southland snow storm.HistoryThe 2000 New Zealand Track Championships were held at Kew Bowl and as had happened on previous occasions, weather conditions had a major influence on the meeting. A prominent New Zealand cycling personality made comment on national media questioning why Cycling New Zealand continued to award New Zealand Championship events to Kew Bowl, where weather was often an issue and the bumpy nature of the track was not suited to top competition.That statement was a catalyst for Cycling Southland to further their plans of establishing New Zealand's first indoor cycling facility.Many meetings were to follow and feasibility studies that were undertaken identified that the priority site for the new facility was adjoined to Stadium Southland, as part of the four court extension proposed for the existing facility.A community fundraising venture was initiated by Harcourts Real Estate, a longtime supporter of cycling in the south, who were keen to ensure that the Velodrome became an integral part of the Stadium Southland extensions.Calder Stewart Industries was appointed as the project design and build company and a German Architectural Company, Schuermann Architects were appointed as the Velodrome designer. Negotiations commenced regarding the design and project costs and in August 2005, the groundwork commenced to signal the start of the $8 million project.