AUCKLAND STADIUM

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 December 1929, Page 11

AUCKLAND STADIUM

CITY, COUNCIL’S DEAL. (Special to “Star.") AUCKLAND, December 2. The fact that there was an estimated attendance of 15,000 persons at •_ the City Council’s speedway, on Saturday night, despite the rain, and that there is every prospect of double the attendance next Saturday, provided the weather is fine, is a striking attestation of the hold which the professional sport has taken of . Auckland. The large attendance of Saturday night was proof positive that the new sports ground is wqll situated to cater for athletic Auckland, while in addition excellent tramway arrangements were made for handling the big crowd. ' » In discussing the speedway the Mayor (Mr George Baildon) said, this morning, that Speedways Limited had a lease from December 1 to March 31 for the years 1929-30 and 1930-31. After that tire position would be reconsidered. “They came to us when we started in 1927 to discuss building a stadium,’’ said Mr Baildon, “and eventually the City Council agreed to an application from Messrs Boycroft, Kay, and Jacob. The terms were fixed as follows : The tenancy to be for every Saturday in the month (above referred to) and every holiday for 7 to 11 p.m., and at a fee of £25 per night up to an attendance of 5000. After that a sliding scale as follows : From 5000 to 7500 persons an additional 15 per cent, of gate receipts, after the first 5000 persons had passed through, and an additional 20 per cent, over the 7500 mark. For holiday nights the minimum charge agreed to was £37 10/- with a sliding scale.” The Mayor explained that th?e cost of the stadium had been £23,380 of which a isum of £BOOO was subscribed by the Government as unemployed subsidy. The amount was exclusive of the value of the ground. “The land was quite valueless when we started,” said Mr Baildon. “It was merely a swamp area. No tenders had been called but it was necessary that the

company should be sure of their position so that they could engage professional riders and interchange them with other centres. Full inquiries had been made in other places where the stadiums’were in existence before the charges were decided upon.” “I was told,” said Mr Baildon in conclusion, “that the track is as good as anything in Australia. We took the risk of building the stadium, and the company came along with a reasonable offer which we accepted a year ago.” It was still open for anyone to secure the place for sport during the winter months and for the nights which were not included in the agreement with the company.. ' In discussing the stadium Dr. F. J. Rayner said, this morning, that Dixieland,' Ltd. had been prepared to spend £22,000 in erecting a public bath at Point Chevalier with a proviso that they should be free to school children. The offer was declined by the City Council. Now he found that the public money to the tune of over £20,000 had been spent in erecting . a race track. Public baths would have served a much more useful service.