Western News: September 22, 2022

Thursday September 22 2022 5
New pavilion has a familiar look
• By Jaime Cunningham
NESTLED IN the corner of
Elmwood Park, many cricket
fans may recognise the Old Boys’
Collegian Cricket Club’s iconic
pavilion design from elsewhere
in the city.
The pavilion at the park shares
the same white, plastic roof
structure as Hagley Oval’s and is
set to open next weekend, ahead
of the 2022/23 cricket season for
the South Island’s largest cricket
club.
Club president
Steve Wakefield
got involved in
the process of a
new facility after
watching his sons
Steve
Wakefield
play at the park
and use the portable
changing
rooms “year after
year” following the Christchurch
earthquakes.
Wakefield joined the club’s
committee soon after and began
the process of getting Elmwood
Park a modern cricket pavilion.
Funding the pavilion began
after persuading his now late
father Jim Wakefield, who gave
the club money to start the build.
The pavilion has since been
named after him.
Wakefield calls the design a
“modest echo” of Hagley Oval’s
roof design of five peaks.
“We decided to do a similar
one for Elmwood Park, just with
a single peak.”
Trevor Watt, of Athfield Architects,
worked on both Hagley
and Elmwood’s cricket pavilions
and says the design creates the
“desired village green concept.”
He says “there is a modern
international tradition, which
originated at Lord’s Cricket
Ground, for this building typology
to reflect cricket.”
“The white pavilion colour
against a green backdrop echoes
the traditional cricket whites
against a green outfield.”
Canterbury Magician and
OBC premier women’s player
Abby Gerken says the new pavilion
is a “brilliant asset” to the
club.
The 20-year-old has played for
the club since she was 11 and has
only ever known the old Portacom
buildings at Elmwood Park.
She says, “without the pavilion,
there were a lot of issues
regarding social activities so
hopefully, the new facilities are
able to bring all the teams closer
together and build that club
environment even more.”
“I honestly think that Elmwood
Park is like a little Hagley
Oval… not a bad thing to associate
with club cricket.”
With approximately 500 junior
players at the club, the new pavilion
is exciting for young players
who haven’t known undamaged
clubrooms.
Eight-year-old OBC player Ollie
Turner has played for the club
for three years, and thinks the
new pavilion is good for the club,
saying the old changing rooms
were “really small.”
He enjoys going down to
games at Hagley Oval in the
summer and says the design
of his club’s pavilion is “pretty
cool.”
“It does actually look like
MODERN:
The Old
Boys’
Collegian
Cricket
Club’s new
pavilion
Hagley Oval,” he said.
Wakefield says the club has
been “really pleased” with feedback
on the design.
“A lot of people have said to
me, just driving down Heaton St,
it looks so iconic in the corner of
the park.”
He says that it’s like a “revitalisation”
to have the pavilion
finished before the 100th club
anniversary in 2024 as well.
The Jim Wakefield pavilion
will be officially opened at 9am
on Saturday with past and
present representative players of
the club available for photos and
signatures.