Museum Stand at Wellington’s Basin Reserve's to be saved after Council vote

The Museum Stand will continue to grace the Basin Reserve after Wellington City Council agreed the 94-year-old structure is worth preserving.

At a meeting last Thursday, the Council’s City Strategy Committee voted unanimously in favour of spending $7.7 million to strengthen the stand and refurbish it.

The building and grandstand has been identified as an earthquake-prone building (known as being ‘yellow-stickered’) and, apart from the museum on the ground floor, has been closed to the public since 2012. The building would have to be demolished by 2022, if not strengthened.

A recent engineering report showed the stand’s life could be extended by another 50 years.

Speaking at the meeting, Wellingto Mayor Justin Lester told the committee that "the logical choice is to preserve the heritage of the city” adding that due to cricket coverage, the Basin has been seen by millions of television viewers around the world and the stand currently projects an image of decay which reflects badly on the city.

Mayor Lester also advised that any plan to demolish the stand would most likely be fought in the courts and that there was “zero percent” chance the work would be affected by the Let’s Get Wellington Moving transport strategy.

The expected cost to Council of preserving the Stand will be $6.7 million, with the Basin Reserve Trust contributing another $1 million.

The strengthened and refurbished Stand will return the main entrance, staircase and exterior to the original condition. The stand’s public toilets will also be upgraded with two new accessible toilets.

The funding will come from a reprioritisation of the Basin Reserve Redevelopment budget, meaning no new money is needed.

There will be spaces for the Cricket Museum and Cricket Wellington offices.

Councillor Peter Gilberd backed the decision to strengthen the stand, adding “since the engineers say it can be saved we owe it to future generations to save it. It would be cavalier to bowl it.”

History of the Museum Stand

• The Museum Stand was opened in 1925, replacing the original Caledonian Stand that was built in 1868. The cost of the new stand was £16,710 ($1.6 million today). The 94-year-old stand is a Category 2 Heritage Listed building.
• The Edward Dixon Clock that was installed in the first grandstand, the Caledonian, was moved to the new stand and is still there.
• The downstairs area of the stand was used as a boxing gym in the late 1930s and 40s.
• The Museum Stand was so named when the NZ Cricket Museum was opened in 1987.
• The Basin Reserve is one of New Zealand’s most historic sporting grounds. In 1998 it was registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Historic Area, the first sports ground to be recognised in this way.
• Although the Basin Reserve is primarily a cricket ground, over the years it has also hosted hockey, rugby union, rugby league, football, cycling, rifle practice, band displays, dog racing, baseball, lacrosse, softball, open-air religious services, concerts, opera, jamborees, military displays and political and royal visits.

Images: The Museum Stand at Wellington's Basin Reserve (top) and plans for its refurbishment (below).

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