WAR MEMORIAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27092, 28 May 1949, Page 5

WAR MEMORIAL

SPORTS CENTRE PROPOSAL MANY FACILITIES PLANNED The suggestion that Dunedin’s war memorial should take the form of a sports centre is one which no doubt will give rise to much speculation and comment among many sections of the community. The need in the city for a sports centre is quite apparent when a survey of premises suitable for the staging of majof indoor sporting fixtures reveals that the only available place Is the Town Hall which was never designed for this purpose.

The plan, as proposed by the Sports Centre Committee, provides lor a stadium with' a free space of 70ft by 108 ft on the floor of a basin formed by rising tiers of seats sufficient to accommodate about 2000 spectators. This flbor space would be sufficient for the staging of any Indoor sporting contest. Should the centre be required for a contest such as wrestling or boxing, further seating could be arranged on the floor surrounding a builtup ring sufficient for several hundred more spectators.

Many uo-to-the-minute features are incorporated in the plan, perhaps the most useful of which is the provision for the enlarging of the free space on the floor of the basin to an area of 100 ft by 135 ft simply by telescoping the lower tiers of seats beneath the upper tiers. This labour-saving and novel arrangement for seating permits the floor space to be increased from 7560 square feet when all seating is provided to an area of 13,500 square feet while still allowing seating accommodation for approximately 500 spectators. This , augmented floor space, for ordinary club activities, would provide sufficient space for two full-sized indoor basketball courts or 12 badminton courts or 24 table tennis tables with international standard clearance all round or three lawn tennis doubles courts. This area would naturally provide ample space for archery, miniature rifle shooting, or for indoor training for such sports as cricket, golf, hockey, football, etc.

Provision is made in the plan for club, meeting, and storage rooms and for a cafeteria, "which would be a valuable adjunct and source of considerable revenue to a building of this type. Indoor sporting clubs in Dunedin are in great need of a building which will alleviate accommodation problems .for their activities. Practically all clubs and organisations are having to restrict their membership because of the lack of space sufficient to cater for all those who desire, to participate, and since this is undesirable from every point of view sportsmen would welcome the provision of such a building as a war memorial, and it would incidentally qualify under the Government scheme of subsidising £ for £ any approved living war memorial. It is estimated by the sponsors of this scheme that it would be a self-supporting one in that with such a large floor space available several sporting activities could be catered for. on every week night and thus rentals would easily cover the overhead.