The Daily News. FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1904. THE RECREATION GROUNDS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 152, 1 July 1904, Page 2

The Daily News. FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1904. THE RECREATION GROUNDS.

The projected improvements to the sports ground in the Recreation Grounds have beein postponed until after the conclusion of the Christinas Carnival. In the meantime various suggestions are made as to the best means of making the arena 1 more suitable than at present, Its swampy nature and bad drainage rendering it useless except after a spell of fine weather. One of the 'biest schemes is that of Mr W. A. Collis, one of the Borough Council's representatives on the Board. His proposal provides for enlarging and raising t/he space devoted to athletics, and necessitates cutting back some twenty feet along the eistern side of the ground and perhaps n hundred and fifty feet into th» hill whose face is now terraced for th« accommodation of spectators. The spoil would bo used in raising the ground, and might bring it to about six feet above the present level. Terraces to accommodate over a thousand spectators could be made on the new face of the hill. A concrete

retaining wall would have to be orected at the western boundary of the ground, this being utilised as a foundation for a grandstand. Mr Coflis points out that the new terraces will receive greater protection from westerly winds than is at present the case, and will have no greater disadvantage in the matter of easterly wind, which sometimes makes this vantage ground unpleasant and untenable. The dressingl- - and pavilion could be erected on that portion of the ground now occupied by the big cabbage-tree. The scheme seems practicable, and has much to recommend it. One thing is certain, that if the ground is ever to receive a fair revenue from sports it must bo made a sports ground worthy of tho name. No less obscure is tho knowledge that the Recreation Ground is the popular place of resort, and by far the most convenient, and that what is required is one good ground instead of three half-starved pluces for outdoor games, and to this latter end matters are tending just now. Tho (question of finance lias been considered, too. Mr Collis, putting the valuation of tho borough at £50,000, states that a rate of a penny in'tho £ would produce aWmt £206!. He suggests that the Borough Council should obtain control <>'■'' this portion of the recreation reserves, raise a loan of £2OOO £por improvement, and instead of/subsidising the Board at tho rato/of £IOO annually as at presents exporad the money and recoup j/fself out of a sinking fund provided by the imposition of a

penny y/ate. The echenio is well thought of by Mr Collis' colleagues, aiwl should at least provoke a healthy discussion on a matter that will be none the worse for a little ventilation.