8 | Bay Oval Trust: Pavilion Extension T T Virginia Wright The dream rounded out at the Oval The trust had a master plan for the whole oval from the beginning, making the most of land that had previously had little use. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT A 445 Cameron Road, Tauranga. T 64 7 578 3383 W www.crowthers.co.nz Proudly supporting Bay Oval with Construction Cost Management and Quantity Surveying Services Carrus is the creator of more than 30 residential communities and the developer of more than 9,000 sections throughout the North Island. Spanning some 35 years, we are here for the long haul! www.carrus.co.nz | 0800 Y CARRUS | info@carrus.co.nz Contact us today to find out more information on our latest projects. www.missionhills.co.nz www.ngarotoestate.co.nz Our strengths lie within our team’s experience and expertise in planning and design, construction, sales and marketing, together with all aspects of financial management. We’re proud to deliver projects that make a difference to the community, like this one. Got a similar project in mind? Let’s work together. fosters.co.nz When it became clear the Bay of Plenty would no longer be hosting first class cricket around 20 years ago, a group of locals got together and determined that it was an opportunity to turn Blake Park into a venue that would not only host top international cricket, but would also be a true community facility catering for all ages, including the youngest boys and girls. That was the start of the Bay Oval Trust, and general manager Kelvin Jones has been involved from the beginning. “It was a fairly bold vision at the time when we stood in front of Tauranga City Council around 2004 and explained it to a lot of sceptical looks, but there was a general move away from stadiums to more boutique grass embankments at the time, so in a sense the cricket world moved in a direction that suited us, and now you’d call Blake Park Tauranga’s premium sports park,” he explains. It hosts not only cricket, but also rugby, hockey, netball, and squash, has the Adams High Performance Centre on-site, and is the region’s international sports venue. Over the 2024/25 season it has hosted multiple Black Caps matches to sell-out crowds of 9500, with a total capacity that can go as high as 11000. “The capacity depends on the configuration, so for a Super Rugby match, for example, we can have up to 11000 as we did over Anzac weekend,” says Kelvin. The trust had a master plan for the whole oval from the beginning, making the most of land that had previously had little use, to which they have mostly stayed faithful. This included an extension to the pavilion, Kelvin says. “The pavilion came in three stages. We did stages 1 and 2 early on, but there was always a vision to extend it, and the one key component that was missing was the hosting space with a commercial kitchen and some more operational space. “The first stage was designed to cater for international cricket, so had everything the players needed including seven changing rooms, umpires’ facilities, match official facilities and so on, but now we’ve more than doubled the size extending it to cover almost a quarter of the circumference of the ground with a sweeping curve of a building that looks like it’s always been there.” Most of the pavilion is single level in keeping with the general boutique vision: grass embankments with nice terraces rather than a concrete jungle, as the Bay Oval Trust agreed they wanted the development to be in keeping with the more casual nature of the Mount and the beach. Having the hosting spaces brings the Bay Oval Pavilion in line with international cricket venues around the world, and caters for considerably more than eight or 10 cricket matches a year. “It’s now a fantastic facility, and even though it’s only been open a short time, we’ve used it for a number of functions already and have had huge interest for both community and commercial functions,” says Kelvin. Wh le the i ternational matches were already coming to Tauranga and using the Bay Oval as intended, there’s no doubt that this additional facility will bring an increase of fixtures in its wake. Kelvin says the step up from using marquee to a permanent, purpose-designed-and-built facilities - making the most of natural timbers and featuring large, New Zealand-made exposed glulam beams in keeping with the beachside vibe of the whole centre - further enhances what the Bay Oval Trust always envisioned. “That the Oval should function equally well as an internationally recognised cricket venue, or as a sports and hosting centre catering to local and community needs.”
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