Lancaster Park

About

Lancaster Park, also known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium for sponsorship reasons, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium closed permanently due to damage sustained in the February 2011 earthquake and demolished in 2019. It has since been transformed into a public recreational park with facilities for community sport, and was re-opened in June 2022. The stadium was the venue for various sports including rugby union, cricket, rugby league, association football, athletics and trotting. It is perhaps best known for being the track where Peter Snell broke the world record for 800 metres and for 880 yards in a single race in 1962. It had also hosted various non-sporting events including concerts by Pearl Jam in 2009, Bon Jovi in 2008, Roger Waters in 2007, Meat Loaf in 2004, U2 in 1989 & 1993, Tina Turner in 1993 and 1997, Dire Straits in 1986 and 1991, and Billy Joel in 1987. However the stadium was primarily a rugby and cricket ground and was the home of the Crusaders rugby union team, who compete in Super Rugby, and the Canterbury cricket team. Its capacity was 38,628.

In 1880 Canterbury Cricket and Athletics Sports Co. Ltd was established. In 1882, Edward Stevens and Arthur Ollivier, as agents through their company, Harman and Stevens, arranged the purchase of a parcel of swampy farmland which became Lancaster Park. (The actual cricket ground was in low-lying area and sat on a large pool of saturated land.) Benjamin Lancaster, a farmer, was the absentee vendor. Canterbury Cricket and Athletics Sports purchased 10 acres 3 rods 30 perches (4.426 hectares) for £2,841 at £260 per acre ( NZ$ 1284.95/hectare). In 1904 Canterbury cricket would become the sole owner of the ground. Then in 1911 the Canterbury Rugby Union became co-owners with the Canterbury Cricket Association over the ground. An Act of Parliament in November 1919 vested title to Lancaster Park in the Crown, and established the Victory Park Board to take responsibility for its management. [ citation needed ]

JADE Stadium Limited was established in December 1998 to manage the existing facilities on behalf of the Victory Park Board and the Christchurch City Council. A five-member board of directors, drawn from Christchurch's business community and the Christchurch City Council, governed the company. [ citation needed ]

In 1881 the first cricket match to be played on the ground was scheduled for the opening on 8 October, but it was cancelled because of rain. An athletics meeting became the first event held on the ground, on 15 October. [ citation needed ]

The final game of ex-All Black Fergie McCormick was played at Lancaster Park in Christchurch on the 28th of March 1976. Two Springbok players had been invited but ten days before the game, protesters had written "WELCOME TO RACIST GAME" in 20-foot high letters on the pitch using weed-killer which was very visible to the National TV audience, Newspapers and the crowd. In a futile bid ground staff attempted to use turf to adjust the "sign" to read "WELCOME TO GAME".

In 1912 a "Floral Fete", a festival, was held to raise funds to clear the debt of £2,000 in order to prevent the ground being cut up into building sites. [ citation needed ]

The financial difficulty the ground faced was so great that during New Zealand's involvement in World War I in 1915 the main oval at Lancaster Park was ploughed up and was used as a potato field in an attempt to raise more revenue. [ citation needed ]

The embankment was expanded in 1957, increasing the capacity to 33,000. Two new stands were opened in 1965 further increasing the capacity to 38,500. In 1995 the Hadlee Stand opened in tribute to the successful cricketing family which came from Canterbury. The Hadlee stand was the first stand to be demolished due to earthquake damage. In 2000 saw the demolition of the embankment and No. 4 stand and the opening of the DB Draught stand (renamed the Tui stand in 2006) and the Paul Kelly Motor Company Stand (West Stand). Both stands sustained severe slump damage during the earthquake in 2011. Although deemed repairable it is unlikely they will be as the cost would be too expensive. [ citation needed ]

As part of a $60 million redevelopment for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the Eastern Stands (No. 1, 2 and 3 stands) were demolished and replaced with the new Deans Stand. The Stand was designed to reflect the newly completed Western Stand. The total capacity was 38,500 and was to be raised to nearly 45,000 with temporary seating for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, in what would have made it the second largest stadium in New Zealand after Eden Park.

On Tuesday, 22 April 2008 a press release was issued announcing that the new East Stand, built to replace stands demolished in 2007, as part of a redevelopment of the Ground, was to be named the Deans Stand when it was officially opened in January 2010. The Deans Stand had a seating capacity of 13,000. The stand was severely damaged in the earthquake when the piles it stood on were violently forced up and then down in a wave motion. It was slated for demolition. [ citation needed ]

The Deans name has been a part of rugby at the stadium for more than a century. Bob Deans was an All Black and also captained the Canterbury rugby team, Bruce and Robbie Deans were both All Blacks and members of the Canterbury team with Robbie also coaching the Crusaders, Bob's brother Colin played rugby at the ground, Bruce & Robbie's father Tony played cricket on the ground, and in the sixth generation of the family Milly Deans is a member of the Canterbury women's rugby team. The name Deans is also the family name of the first successful settlers in the city with brothers John and William Deans building their house in 1843.

The stadium was closed because of the severe damage sustained during the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Seven 2011 Rugby World Cup matches scheduled for the stadium in September were moved to other venues. Demolition of the stadium was largely completed by September 2019. In 2025, the new stadium named Te Kaha is proposed to be finished for games within Christchurch's Four Avenues inner city boundary. In the meantime, games would be played in the site of Rugby League Park. [ citation needed ]

The park was re-opened in June 2022 as a public recreational park with sporting facilities including fields for cricket, rugby, touch rugby and association football. In February 2025, the Christchurch City Council announced that a community centre and changing rooms were under construction at the northeastern part of the park, with construction scheduled to be completed in October. Lancaster Park Cricket Club and Ōtautahi Rugby Club were involved in the planning.

In 1880 Canterbury Cricket and Athletics Sports Co. Ltd was established. In 1882, Edward Stevens and Arthur Ollivier, as agents through their company, Harman and Stevens, arranged the purchase of a parcel of swampy farmland which became Lancaster Park. (The actual cricket ground was in low-lying area and sat on a large pool of saturated land.) Benjamin Lancaster, a farmer, was the absentee vendor. Canterbury Cricket and Athletics Sports purchased 10 acres 3 rods 30 perches (4.426 hectares) for £2,841 at £260 per acre ( NZ$ 1284.95/hectare). In 1904 Canterbury cricket would become the sole owner of the ground. Then in 1911 the Canterbury Rugby Union became co-owners with the Canterbury Cricket Association over the ground. An Act of Parliament in November 1919 vested title to Lancaster Park in the Crown, and established the Victory Park Board to take responsibility for its management. [ citation needed ]

JADE Stadium Limited was established in December 1998 to manage the existing facilities on behalf of the Victory Park Board and the Christchurch City Council. A five-member board of directors, drawn from Christchurch's business community and the Christchurch City Council, governed the company. [ citation needed ]

In 1881 the first cricket match to be played on the ground was scheduled for the opening on 8 October, but it was cancelled because of rain. An athletics meeting became the first event held on the ground, on 15 October. [ citation needed ]

The final game of ex-All Black Fergie McCormick was played at Lancaster Park in Christchurch on the 28th of March 1976. Two Springbok players had been invited but ten days before the game, protesters had written "WELCOME TO RACIST GAME" in 20-foot high letters on the pitch using weed-killer which was very visible to the National TV audience, Newspapers and the crowd. In a futile bid ground staff attempted to use turf to adjust the "sign" to read "WELCOME TO GAME".

In 1912 a "Floral Fete", a festival, was held to raise funds to clear the debt of £2,000 in order to prevent the ground being cut up into building sites. [ citation needed ]

The financial difficulty the ground faced was so great that during New Zealand's involvement in World War I in 1915 the main oval at Lancaster Park was ploughed up and was used as a potato field in an attempt to raise more revenue. [ citation needed ]

The embankment was expanded in 1957, increasing the capacity to 33,000. Two new stands were opened in 1965 further increasing the capacity to 38,500. In 1995 the Hadlee Stand opened in tribute to the successful cricketing family which came from Canterbury. The Hadlee stand was the first stand to be demolished due to earthquake damage. In 2000 saw the demolition of the embankment and No. 4 stand and the opening of the DB Draught stand (renamed the Tui stand in 2006) and the Paul Kelly Motor Company Stand (West Stand). Both stands sustained severe slump damage during the earthquake in 2011. Although deemed repairable it is unlikely they will be as the cost would be too expensive. [ citation needed ]