Victoria Park, New Zealand

Victoria Park is a park and sports ground in Auckland City, New Zealand. It was opened in 1905 and named after the queen who had died four years earlier. It lies on reclaimed bay land in Freemans Bay, a suburb directly west of the Auckland CBD. However, it does not have direct connection to the foreshore anymore, as the Western Reclamation and the Viaduct Basin quarter lie between it and the Waitemata Harbour. The bay started to be filled in as early as the 1870s although the bulk of the reclamation appears to have happened after 1901. The Park was 'finished' around 1912, the area to the north (called the Western Reclamation) dates from after that.

The artificial creation of the land is why it is very flat and level - it was intended from the start to be primarily a facility for active events augmenting the other public parks; Western Park 1876 and Albert Park 1884 which were for more genteel passive enjoyment. For this reason the park was not laid out in a picturesque manner, neither has it ever had decorative flower beds.

As a sports facility for the adjacent working class areas and industrial zones it was provided with a sports pavilion and edged with trees to give shade for spectators. These are London plane trees (planted in 1905 for the opening of the park), which provide an oval frame for the sports fields in the middle. Asphalt sealed tennis courts were created in 1909.

On the north side of the park was constructed a caretakers residence designed as an Arts & Crafts cottage (also recently restored as a cafe), a cricket pavilion (rebuilt in the 1990s) and a band rotunda (demolished before the Second War). As well as being home to cricket and rugby clubs, newer activities have found a place in the park; jogging for example. In the 1990s a skateboard park was created along with a petanque court.

On the south side space was also found a line of small commercial buildings facing towards the Municipal Incinerator (opened 1905). Next to these was built a Free Kindergarten - paid for by Sir John Logan Campbell, a former Mayor of Auckland; this building is the only survivor of the line of buildings which stood on the southern edge of the park and has been recently restored. Not far from the Kindergarten was created a playground for smaller children in 1912. The original equipment was imported from America and paid for by John Court the proprietor of a well known Queen Street department store. This facility has been recently renovated with up-todate modern equipment.

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