 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Kardinia Park" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Kardinia Park is a major publicpark located inSouth Geelong,Victoria. A number of public andsporting facilities are located in the park: a majorAFLstadium, a secondary football oval, acricket field, an open airswimming pool, a number ofnetball courts, various sporting clubrooms, and a senior citizens centre. The park is bounded by Moorabool Street, theGeelong railway line, Kilgour Street, Latrobe Terrace, and Park Crescent.
Kardinia Park was first proclaimed as a public park in May 1872 by the Commissioner of Crown Lands. Then known asChilwell Flat the new park was 60 acres (24 hectares) in size. Control of the land was vested in theGeelong, Newtown, and Chilwell councils.
1872 sawKardinia Park adopted as the name. The park originally stretched north to Kilgour Street until the extension of theGeelong railway toWinchelsea in 1876 isolated the north-east corner. This area was sold for housing.
Azoo was opened in the park in 1903 by the park committee.[1] In 1911 theGeelong Advertiser's illustrated magazineNews of the Week published an inventory of the zoo:
Mammals:
It is believed that the zoo closed at some time duringWorld War II.[1]
By 1911, there were two football ovals atKardinia Park, one on the eastern side, the other on the west. TheGeelong Football Club began playing home games on the eastern oval at the park in 1941 after its previous home ground,Corio Oval, was needed for military reasons. They use the ground to this day.
The western oval is currently used by the local St Marys football club for local league competitions. The clubrooms for the St Marys team are located on the western side of the oval beside Latrobe Terrace.
The third oval, whilst primarily used for cricket, is also used as the training venue for the Geelong Football Umpires association. The association rooms are located to the south of the oval.
The Kardiniaswimming pool is located on Park Crescent, and was opened by the thenCity of Geelong in the mid-1960s. The open air complex is only open during the warmer months of the year. The pool is currently operated by theCity of Greater Geelong.
Five swimming pools are provided: one for toddlers and another for older children, two 50 metre eight lane lap pools, and a diving pool with 1 metre and 3 metrespringboards. Awaterslide was added to the complex in the 1980s, however it only operates during the busier summer months.
The complex is the home of theGeelong Swimming Club and is the frequent home of swimming competitions. It also sees a number of lap swimmers due to being one of the few full length swimming pools in Geelong. For the same reason a number ofschool swimming carnivals are also held at the pool.
A $4.4 million upgrade was carried out the centre in 2005, with a new international standard 10 lane 50 metre pool built to the east of the existing pool. In February 2006 the pool hosted theWorld Lifesaving Championships.[2]
The pool was planned to host theaquatics events at the2026 Commonwealth Games, before their cancellation in 2023.[3][4]
A third oval, to the north next to the railway tracks is used for cricket. TheGeelong Cricket Club currently uses it during summer for their Premier Cricket (Victorian cricket league) side. In the 2007/08 season the club made the First XI Grand Final for the first time, going down to the Ringwood Rams. The Second and Third XI's also made Grand Finals, both losing. The clubrooms are located on the back of the Ford Stand to the east of the main stadium.
Super Rugby sidesMelbourne Rebels andWaikato Chiefs played a pre-season trial at the ground on Friday February 3, 2012. It was first Super Rugby game hosted by Geelong.[5]
Netball courts also exist in the centre of the park for the use of local competitions. A clubroom exists beside the courts. A fitness course runs around the western side of the park. A children'splayground also exists in the north-west corner, along with outdoor barbecue facilities, picnic areas and public toilets.
TheKardinia Park Stadium Trust is an organisation that operates theKardinia Park Stadium inGeelong,Australia.
Thetrust was created in 2016 by theVictorian Government and was created to oversee the expanding functions of the venue as it underwent significant redevelopment and expansion of capacity.[6] The trust's responsibilities, powers and roles are detailed in theKardinia Park Stadium Trust Act 2016, which was passed by theParliament in February 2016.[7]
As of the trust's establishment in March 2016, the members of the trust are:[8]
The trust committee also appoints a CEO, who at this time isMichael Brown, who was the former CEO of the2015 AFC Asian Cup.[9]