Dunedin Venues Management Ltd directors (from left) Peter
Brown, Jennifer Rolfe and Peter Hutchison get a taste of
the Forsyth Barr Stadium experience yesterday, as the
countdown to completion is set to tick over to 365 days
tomorrow. Photo by Jane Dawber.
It might still be a year away from completion, but those
building the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin are already
planning 100 years ahead.
Members of the Dunedin Venues Management Ltd board - who
together are tasked with overseeing the completed venue's
operations - visited the stadium site yesterday to mark an
impending milestone.
Tomorrow, the calendar will flip over to 365 days to go,
signifying exactly one year until the stadium's expected
completion on August 1, 2011.
While an army of contractors, and cement mixers and cranes
continue to crawl across the site, DVML has drawn up plans to
mark both the countdown and the venue's 100th anniversary
with a time capsule.
The capsule would be buried on the walkway leading to the
venue's main south stand, marked by a plaque, in the months
leading up to next year's completion date, DVML chief
executive David Davies said.
Buried inside it would be a treasure trove of 100,000 digital
photographs documenting the stadium's construction, stored on
a variety of media devices, including solid-state hard
drives, Mr Davies' spokeswoman said.
The drives contained no moving parts, so would not degrade
over time, and retained memory without power.
The aim was to ensure the images could be recovered in 100
years, despite any battering by the elements or technological
advances, she said.
Schematics and instructions on how to use the technology
would also be included.
A 13m paper roll of 1500 signatures, drawings and messages
collected during last month's public stadium open day would
be included.
Mr Davies said members of the public were invited to submit
their ideas for possible inclusion in the 40cm diameter,
75cm-deep cylinder, which would be opened on August 1, 2111.
"The time capsule is a way for the community to leave a
snapshot of 2010 Dunedin for the next generation.
"It'll be interesting to see what people come up with."
Carisbrook Stadium Trust chairman Malcolm Farry said he was
confident, with the right maintenance and upgrades, the
stadium would still be operational in 100 years' time.
• Ideas can be submitted to the Forsyth Barr Stadium facebook
page, emailed to info@forsythbarrstadium.co.nz
or posted to PO Box 5506, Dunedin.
- chris.morris@odt.co.nz
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