Groups put hands up for stadium seats

Lancaster Park Stadium’s seats are in hot demand.

Sporting and community groups have put their hands up for 21,000 of the stadium’s 30,000 seats ahead of its planned deconstruction.

Lancaster Park Stadium's seats are in hot demand with sporting and community groups.

Christchurch City Council approved the deconstruction of the earthquake damaged stadium earlier this year on the understanding as much material as possible would be salvaged or recycled.

With deconstruction work due to begin in December, the search has been on to find new uses for the parts of the stadium that can be saved.

Last month community and sporting groups were invited to outline in writing what they wanted from the stadium and why.

“We had a great response, with more than 40 submissions coming in,’’ said Darren Burden, General Manager of Vbase, the venue management company that owns the stadium.

“There’s been a lot of interest in obtaining seats from the stadium but we’ve also had requests for other things like rugby gear, lighting tower heads, roller doors, display cabinets, showers and toilets.

“People have also put in requests for items of a more sentimental nature that they feel a special attachment to. We’re working through all the requests and hope to reply to everyone by the end of this month,’’ Mr Burden said.

In the meantime Christchurch City Council was engaging with contractors who could salvage the items. The seat salvage work would begin next month; the rest of the items would be recovered from the stadium over the next two to three months.

“The deconstruction of Lancaster Park Stadium is going to represent an end of an era but it is comforting to know that many of the stadium’s fitting and fixtures will get put to good use by the city’s sporting and community groups,’’ Mr Burden said.

The deconstruction of Lancaster Park Stadium is expected to take 12 to 14 months to complete.