RIVAL SITES FOR STADIUM

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20732, 16 February 1939, Page 8

RIVAL SITES FOR STADIUM

Before the final step is taken it is desirable that the people of Hamilton and the surrounding district should give serious consideration to the wisdom of providing a stadium or sports headquarters at Galloway Park instead of at Hinemoa Park. The Domain Board has given its approval to the Galloway Park scheme, but there are factors to consider other than those mentioned in the discussion at the board meeting. The most important consideration is, who will use a stadium at Galloway Park, and when ? If the stadium is not going to be patronised freely at Galloway Park, should it be erected at a cost of between £SOOO and £6OOO 1 The evidence is that a stadium at Hinemoa Park, in the largest centre of population, would be more popular among the sports bodies that would use it, and that ample accommodation could be provided there for all needs for many years to come. It is argued that the greater space of Galloway Park will be necessary to accommodate the crowds at such events as important Rugby matches or other public gatherings. That claim is answered by the fact that such accommodation is provided by the Claudelands Showgrounds, which by Statute are made available to the borough for a given number of days each year.

The value of a sportsground lies in its everyday use and not in provision for an exceptionally large crowd once or twice a year. The driving force behind the desire for a stadium at Hamilton is the wish to give as many participants in sport as possible a popular headquarters as near as possible to the homes of the majority so that the young people may reap the benefits of physical training. Such training is destined to become an increasingly important feature in the lives of the people. Do those young people intend to make as much use of a stadium at Galloway Park as they would of similar facilities at Hinemoa Park ? Certainly there is room for the development of Galloway Park to serve residents on the eastern side of the river, but the paramount consideration in the rival claims must be the amount of patronage that would be extended to the site finallv selected. How many of the sports bodies now accommodated in the domain belt in the vicinity of Hinemoa Park will transfer their patronage to Galloway Park 1