Feasibility study commissioned for Trafalgar Park

Councillors agreed at yesterday’s Community Services Committee meeting to initiate a feasibility study to assess a list of enhancements to Trafalgar Park before Council determines what, if any, additional investment to make in the facility.

The feasibility study will provide more detailed cost information about a long list of potential improvements that could be made to the facility for a range of uses, including hosting during the Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC).

Prompted by the impending RWC bid process, the Committee requested a report by Council staff at its January 2008 meeting on what would need to be done to upgrade Trafalgar Park as an events venue, including meeting the requirements necessary to host a RWC game. Council staff suggestions included additional seating, removal of the cycle track and cricket wicket, installation of a sand based field to improve drainage to avoid cancellation of important events including the RWC, additional parking, lighting and sound enhancements, and replacing ticket booths and entranceways.

At the January meeting, Councillors had also asked what additional uses aside from rugby could be made of the Park if it were to be improved upon. Potential uses could include major football (soccer) games, Warriors pre-season rugby league matches, marching tournaments, band festivals, outdoor concerts by celebrity performers and “Opera in the Park.”

But accommodating some of these uses would require changes that conflict with other uses; to narrow the field to create space for rugby requires the removal of the cycle track and the central cricket block (cricket is in the process of shifting to Saxton Field).

The feasibility study is expected to be presented to the Community Services Committee at its meeting on 15 July.