Sport returns to Lancaster Park
Christchurch’s Lancaster Park has come full circle, returning to its origins as a community sports ground.
Following demolition of its earthquake-damaged stadium in 2018 and 2019, the park has been repaired and grassed with new sports fields laid out. Mayor Lianne Dalziel officially reopened the park at a ceremony yesterday morning.
Watched by dignitaries and members of the public, including parents wrapped up against the June chill, children tumbled onto the grass with bats and balls to try it out.
The park will be used for junior sport – cricket in the summer and football, rugby and league in the winter. It will serve as a home ground for some clubs.
Lancaster Park was first established as a sports ground in 1880 and was given to the public through an Act of Parliament in 1919.
In the decades up until the earthquake it hosted premier rugby and cricket, as well as other sports including athletics, plus outdoor concerts and other events.
Dalziel said the park had a rich history over many generations and held a special place in Cantabrians’ hearts.
‘‘Lancaster Park has been a place of firsts, a place where records have been broken, and a place where memories have been made,’’ she said.
Former Canterbury rugby representative and Ma¯ori All Black Dallas Seymour welcomed the return of the park to community use, after its years hosting high performance sport.
Work to convert the fields started in
April last year and involved contractors removing the foundations of the stadium and bringing in thousands of truckloads of gravel and soil.
The city council will add extra facilities to the park over time, including buildings and a playground. It has a budget of $7 million for improvements.
Records set at Lancaster Park include:
1888: Cyclist Fred Wood sets a world record for a quarter-mile on grass.
1935: Betty Snowball sets a world record for the highest individual innings in women’s cricket, which stood for 50 years.
1952: Bert Sutcliffe makes the highest ever cricket score by a New Zealander.
1962: Peter Snell sets running world records in 800 metres and 800 yards.
1974: Glenn Turner becomes the first New Zealander to score a century in each innings of a cricket test.
1987: Pat Carrick the first woman to umpire a first-class cricket match.
1990: Richard Hadlee becomes the first cricketer in the world to take 400 test wickets.
2002: Nathan Astle achieves the fastest-ever double century in test cricket.