Sweating the cost – funding of University of Auckland’s gym sparks controversy

The opening of the University of Auckland’s (UoA) gym complex has been met with a controversial price tag, funded partly by students’ fees.

The eight-story Symonds Street facility, named Hiwa, gifted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, hosts an eight-lane pool, LED floor, and weights equipment.

The gym complex was budgeted to cost $320 million, although the final cost has not been disclosed yet.

President of the Auckland University Student Association (AUSA), Gabriel Boyd, says that the funding on the Hiwa facility bought a lot of underlying issues to the surface.

“I think the amount of money spent on the gym brought things to the foreground that weren’t previously talked about. . . I mean you have a lot of people at the University not being paid a living wage” says Boyd.

The University revealed that more than half of Hiwa’s funding came from student levies which, for a full-time student, costs around $1100.

Approximately $30 million is collected each year in student levies according to the UoA website.

LISTEN: Gabriel Boyd on student responses to gym funding 

Boyd says unnecessary additions contributed to the building’s higher cost, which could have been spent on other student services.

European engineers helped install the LED flooring in the basketball court, undoubtedly raising the cost.

The facility is open to both UOA students as well as the public, raising concerns about whether it was intended for student use or public prestige.

In a statement to TWN, Associate Director of Campus Life, Sean Smith, stated that 98 per cent of current memberships are held by students and staff, ensuring that students receive the most benefits.

UoA students can get an annual membership for $200, which equals to around $3.85 a week.

Alumni memberships are $1350 annually, which works out to $26 a week, nearly seven times more than what students pay, and this applies even if the alumni graduated the year before the facility was completed.

Although Hiwa has caused controversy due to the funding from student levy’s, majority of student opinion has suggested the gym has been seen as worthwhile.

Smith says that the high quality of the facility is what appeals to students and improves their experience.

“The building and its programmes and services are indeed world-class, which makes Hiwa extremely appealing to users.

“This popularity proves the demand for such facilities as a key component of the student experience.”