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Sports correspondent & historian with |
This Saturday is a significant milestone in the history of the Bay Oval at Blake Park in Mount Maunganui.
It is 20 years to the day since the first sod was turned into what has become a unique international cricket ground.
While small by international standards, the Bay Oval gets cricket fans so close to the middle that they can feel the action.
This year marks 100 years since Blake Park was designated as a recreational area in the small seaside village of Western Bay of Plenty.
Local history suggests Blake Park was named after the surveyor who mapped out Mount Maunganui.
While researching this piece, I stumbled upon a story published in the NZ Herald on the 26th of December, 1926.
The occasion was the switching on of the electric current at Mount Maunganui the previous evening.
It was reported that Mr David Percy Bain presided at a large gathering of Mount and Tauranga residents.
At the switching-on ceremony, Mr Bain said that when Moturiki township was surveyed, no provision was made for a recreation ground.
He had written to the Government Surveyor of the time, and through his office, Mount Maunganui now had a valuable recreation area of eight acres.
The ground some way out of the township was to be known as Blake Park. On behalf of the local citizens, he would telegraph Mr Blake to advise him of the park’s name.
David Percy Bain, or Davey to his friends, played a massive part in the arrival of local governance at Mount Maunganui.
He was chairman of the Mount Maunganui Ratepayers Association, Mount Maunganui Domain Board and the Mount Maunganui Town Board.
Bain was also a businessman who operated Arcadia Pictures at the Arcadia Hall and let out cottages and camping sites.
The development of Blake Park didn’t kick off until after World War II when rugby started to be played on the ground, and tennis was transferred from the Mount Domain under the shadows of Mauao.
During the late sixties and early seventies, hockey and cricket established their presence, with the Mount Rugby Club adding squash courts in 1973.
Netball made its home at Blake Park; however, it is scheduled to move to Bay Park shortly.
Recent additions to the Blake Park area include the Mount Greens complex, where bowls and croquet are at home.
The Adams High-Performance Centre hosts the NZ Rugby Sevens sides, while the BOP Climbing Association has established a speed climbing wall.
Last year, the annual AIMS Games primary school sporting festival attracted 13,000 participants, with Blake Park as the tournament headquarters.
Blake Park will continue to grow and flourish through a Tauranga City Parks master plan, which has made the Western Bay sporting hub one of the best in Australasia.
