Pat O'Dea had the vision 17 years ago and Dunedin bowlers are now reaping the benefits of his foresight in building the Westpac Indoor Bowls Stadium.
O'Dea, a retired judge, returned to his home town in the early 1990s and has had a big impact on bowls in Dunedin.
He was responsible for bringing the Asia and Pacific Bowls Championships to the city in 1995 and has made a significant contribution to bowls administration.
Probably his most significant contribution has been the indoor bowls stadium that was officially opened in 1995.
It cost $2.2 million and would cost $5 million to build today.
It proved invaluable yesterday when the last three rounds of the 56th annual Dunedin Festival Fours was shifted from the headquarters green at Kaikorai.
Persistent rain had made the outside greens at Kaikorai, Wakari and Green Island unplayable.
"The bowlers were slipping and the greens were unsafe," O'Dea, the tournament director for the Kaikorai club, said.
"We decided to shift to the stadium.
"It proved its worth again today.
It was a lifeline for us.
We would have had to abandon the tournament without the indoor stadium."
O'Dea had visited indoor bowls stadiums in England and Scotland when he was overseas.
"I thought it would be ideal for Dunedin," O'Dea said.
"Our weather closed the outdoor greens in the winter."
O'Dea was backed by Keith Ellwood and the pair were joint chairmen of the Indoor Stadium Committee.
There was a lot of opposition to the plan.
"It was hard to take," O'Dea said.
"Bowlers would ring and tell me it was a foolish idea.
It made it hard to keep the momentum going."
But he persevered.
Once the stadium was built, there was a shift in opinion.
There are now 1500 members of Westpac Stadium Bowls who play regularly during the winter months.
"It gives bowlers who have retired the opportunity to continue their sport during the winter months instead of sitting home and watching television," O'Dea said.
"We have got over the early teething stages and now have waiting lists for our tournaments."
It was the first indoor stadium built in New Zealand and has kept Dunedin at the forefront of the Professional Bowls Association and brought regular top bowls to Dunedin each winter.
One of the stadium regulars is Ken Walker (Fairfield), who played in the dramatic men's singles final at the New Zealand championships at Wellington last week.
There are two other occasions when a top bowls event was saved when rain threatened a major tournament in the city.
In 1995, the finals of two events at the Asia and Pacific championships were played there, and two years later, Gary Lawson's composite team won the final of the New Zealand championships men's fours final at the stadium.
