MOVE TO KEEP SKATING FLOOR AT BARRACKS

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28793, 14 January 1959, Page 6

MOVE TO KEEP SKATING FLOOR AT BARRACKS

Christchurch sporty organisations, which would like to see the £l5OO rimu floor; laid in King Edward Barracks for. the international roller skating meeting, retained for indoor tournaments, had their hopes dashed last evening. The Christchurch Gity Council refused an offer to buy the floor —at what might be a bargain price—because it has no room to store it. The Army is understood to have refused to have the floor left in the barracks, but sports representatives still hope that the Prime Minister (Mr Nash), whom they have already approached, may yet be able to persuade the Minister of Defence (Mr Connolly) to find room for it. The roller skating congress—after an extension of the season —concluded last evening, and this morning carpenters will begin to‘ dismantle first the seating for 2500 and then the floor. Tennis, badminton, boxing, wrestling, basketball, table tennis, indoor bowls, and other organisations had already asked if the floor could be, left, said Mr L. Whittle, a council member of the New Zealand Roller Skating Association. last evening. Asked Mr Nash “We asked Mr Nash, who is our patron, when he attended the opening of the world congress, if the floor could be left in the barracks,” said the vice-president of the association (Mr J. Power). “But since then he has said that the defence chiefs have said no. They want the barracks for training and parking space, and the

floor takes up about half the area.

“We have also offered it to the Christchurch City Council, in the hope that they might be able to find room to store it.” “We have decided to thank them for their offer and inform them that we cannot enter into its purchase because of the difficulty of storage—which would have been quite a problem,” said the chairman of the City Council finance committee (Mr H. P. Smith), last evening. “My personal feeling, after seeing the wonderful skating, is great regret that we do not have the facilities to store it,” he said. “The floor is built in tongue and groove, on four-inch by twoinch joists, so that it can be cut into manageable sections if necessary.” said Mr Whittle. “If noone comes forward to buy it, we shall put it up for auction. It could go for half the price it cost us.” Mr Connolly is understood to be coming to Christchurch on Thursday next week, but it was not known last evening whether his visit had anything to do with the move to have the floor retained for use in the barracks.