IMPROVING THE BASIN RESERVE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3088, 19 May 1917, Page 11

IMPROVING THE BASIN RESERVE

$ CUTS POPULAR fifIOUND UNIJUROOINCI ALTERATIONS. The Basin Reserve is at present undergoing important alterations that will radically change, for the better, tho general appearand) of this popular city sports ground. The dark, gloomy hell: of iirs and pines has been removed, the straggling shrubberies have been rooted out, and tho sunlight and fresh air is rejuvenating spaces within tho Reserve that; have been wasted for ages past. All tho trees, big and little, that formed a depressing shrubbery round tho ground, have been obliterated, and on the old inside fence lino a very fine solid, yet decorative, fenco has lietn erected, with solid wood panelling 7f(. high, botween square concrete, pillars. From the fence to tho main, path (that encircles the playing area) the ground has been evenly graded, from a height of about nine feet to the path on tho eastern, side, and in a. long, gradual slope on tho southern side." Tho banks havo been lop-soiled, and already the fine lawn grass is covering them with a mantlo of verdure. Tho belt that, was formerly shrubbery or given over !o the pines, varies in width, but the net profit to tho city will be a strip of irom six feet to ten fet. for road-widening in Buckle Dufferin, and Rugby Streets. The corners will actually bo set back' over twenty feet;, so that: a preat improvement not. only in street widening but in tramway-rail curves will bo effected without any loss to the public. On. the Dufferin Street side of the Beserve there will, be about 15ft. of nearly laid-out garden, broken in tho centre'by the Molesworth Fountain, which has already been erected on a concrete base, oufsido the new fence. The eastern entrance to the Reserve will bo just on tho northern sido of tho fountain.

On the north and south sides of the Reserve, opposite Adelaide Road and Cambridge Terrace respectively,/the new fence joins up with a now style of pavilion entrance, a solid concrete structure, with a. concrcto floor, red-tiled roof (with projecting enves). and arched openings on both sides. ■ These openings (three in number) are provided with flap wooden gates, which admit, in each of tho threo places, to registering turnstiles, that will correctly record the number of persons who pass through them. As this structure is erected a good ten feet back from tho old fence line,' tho footpath at each of the main entrance. l ; will bo at least 20ft. in width, and therefore convenient for tho handling of crowds. On tho west sido of the entrance pavilion will bo large double gates, a provision for wheeled traffic and processions. At present tho new fence is boing erected oh the western side of the Reserve. The coming spring should see the 'Basin' an exceedingly pleasant place to linger in, and as cosy a little sports stadium as there is In Now Zealand. In the meantime the Reserves Committee has closed tho ground absolutely for the winter. A new pavilion that would fit in with tho splendid improvements now hong effected, replacing the present shabby time-worn structure, is one of the many things that will havo to wait until the war is over. •