The days of the hammer throw holding up track events at the Caledonian Ground are numbered.
A new hammer throw cage is set to replace the existing one by Christmas, allowing the field event and track events of more than 200m to run at the same time.
Dunedin City Council sports field facilities officer Nick McGuire said the wings on the new cage were ''a lot bigger'' than on the existing cage, meaning there was no chance a stray hammer could land on the track.
The cage, which is costing the DCC $33,750, is being welded together in Oamaru and should be in place before Christmas.
With major events such as the national masters track and field championships and national championships to be held at the ground in February and March respectively, McGuire said the upgrade was essential.
The existing cage will be moved to the field next to the main ground to be used by those training.
''It's one of those things - we also kind of want to be able to take the pressure of the Caledonian grass area itself,'' McGuire said.
''It gets smashed. When you're training, you're throwing double the amount that you do in an event. So it just made the Caledonian non-usable in the summer months, which is unfortunate for Southern United and other groups like that.''
An almost $500,000 overhaul of the Caledonian track, long jump run-up and new water jump has already been completed this year, leaving the ground rejuvenated ahead of a busy season. McGuire said he was happy with the new track, which was replaced in March.
''Some of the line-marking hasn't been perfect in that it's started to wear off pretty quickly, but it's under warranty and we're getting that fixed up.''
