THE SUMMER SHOW GROUND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19196, 12 June 1924, Page 8

THE SUMMER SHOW GROUND.

Sib—l would like to say a few words about Lake Logan—l cannot find courage enough to call it Logan Park, as it will take 20 yeans to make it into a park in the ordinary sense of the word. The shifting of the Summer Show down to Lake Logan i» simply out of the question. The sit© i» totally unfit for the purpose. First, it m right at the extreme north end or the city, with a mountain running from 1600 ft to 2000 ft high right in front of the sun. hake Logan scarcely ever gets any sun m the winter time, and is a very cold, muddy place. It is no place for a show. Some people in Dunedin would like to see the Summer and Winter Shows all in the same piece of ground. That notion is utterly wrong. Where could you find a better place for a Winter Show than the one we have got in Crawford street It is simply perfect for the purpose, and only requires another storey to make it large enough to h® of service lor 10 or 20 years. Ido not think an extra storey would involve much trouble in working if we put up a large lift strong enough to carry 50 or 100 people at a time, similar to the lifts going down into the tubes in Loudon- The present budding is practically fire-proof, and, 1 think, is built on a floating foundation, and strong onougji to carry another storey, though, of couree that is a question for an architect. air C. load does not need to trouble his head about the £lO 000 os the Exhibition Company cannot get’ any of that money. As a member of the Exhibition Company 1 strongly protest against the suggestion as the money was raised for Tahuna Park only. As a member of the Exhibition Company 1 say to Air Shie) that the company cannot afford to give any buildings away for nothing. 1 would suggest that the wooden buildings be sold immediately after the Exhibition lor what we can get for them. When my son and I were in Scotland in 1922, we went from Glasgow to the Highland AgncuUuml Show at Dumfries (the show is shifted every yeai), where it was aU under canvas, and the roads were all covered with long strong planks to keep the people out of the mud. The ground was heavy soil. If we shifted the show down to Lake Logan that is what would happen. We would have to cover aU the roads with planks—a very expensive business—and cast they away when the show was over- , ,1 , As lor Tahuna Park, we have Sir John Roberts's statement to the effect that lie thought that Tahuna Par); would be more suitable for show purposes than Lake Logan, or anywhere else. Sir John Roberts is one of the original members, and is very highly respected, and his advice should go a long wav to settle the question of Tahuna Park or Lake Logan, Tahuna Bark gets the sun from morning to night, summer and winter. It is only a small portion of the domain ot 250 acres, and the Dunedin people should see to it that none of it is sold. But 1 think the Domain Board would give a lease of another 30 acres to make the park 50 acres in all—an area quite large enough for the coming Royal Show. If we secured these 30 acres wo would have no difficulty in getting the railway line into trie park at a oost of only a few hundred pounds. The next show will be the forty-eighth show, and the last show was very good, but the absence of the agricultural implements was very much felt, and an effort should be made to get them back again if possible. I think the implement-makers should get their stands free «s they ape pat to a lot of expense to to bring their manufactures on to the ground. I suppose every one has beard of the great Golden Gate Park' at San Francisco. It is all made out of sandhills, similar to our own sandhills, and is now one of the greatest parks in the world. That shows what can bo done with sandhills. ,-ie St. Kilda people are keeping the domain from being improved. If they would join up with the city you would soon see the domain improved, but nothing will be done until tho amalgamation lakes place. The Victoria road is in a terrible state and is absolutely unsafe for traffic. Our domain could be made into another Golden Gate in time. I hope the new committee will get the improvements carried out before the next show at Tahuna Park. The committee can see that the members arc strongly in favour of Tahuna Park.—l am, etc., ■*wrx. Smaiix. Tomahawk, June UU

TO THE EDITOR.