$30,000 stage planned in stands at QEII

Press, 7 June 1978, Page 1

$30,000 stage planned in stands at QEII

Queen Elizabeth II Park may get a permanent concert stage, a hostel for athletes, and a small gymnasium.

A $30,000 stage, and security fence, in the stadium was recommended yesterday by the Christchurch City Council’s parks and recreation committee.

The hostel and gymnasium would be further in the future, and may come from money raised by lotteries. Already, four outdoor concert bookings for next summer have been made tentatively by Auckland promoters. The committee’s chairman (Cr P. N. G. Blaxall) said the stadium could hold 40,000 spectators with a permanent stage built in the western stand. “We could get that many if Abba comes, and that is on the cards,” he said. At present, promoters spend about $lO,OOO a concert to bring down a stage

from Auckland and assemble it in the stadium grounds. A sportsmen’s hostel and gymnasium in the park would cost about $730,000. None of that would come from ratepayers, according to present proposals. Approval in principle has been recommended by the committee and now sports groups will be consulted to see how much use such facilities would have. “The idea is not new,” said Cr Blaxall. “It has been thought about since the complex was up.” A 126-bed hostel — simply built, possibly by temporary- labour under Government special-work schemes—would make the park even more suitable for a future national coaching and training centre, he said. The gymnasium would be the size of two basketball courts. Under yesterday’s proposal, the $270,000 building would be

a second stage of the project.

Mr Bill Lovell-Smith, designer of the stadium and Commonwealth games complex, has prepared the new sketch plans. Cr Blaxall said the hostel was “extremely basic and simple to construct.” It might be possible to have it built with a saving of $231,000 if temporary

labour were used. The estimated cost of the hostel was $462,000, of which up to half was labour cost.

The idea of a lottery would have to be taken up with the Depar' tent of Internal Affairs. “We would like to come up with a money-raising scheme perhaps involvi. g local sporUmei.," Cr Blaxall said.