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The promoter of Selwyn Sounds and Lincoln Rugby Club have done a deal over a $9000 bill to help get the No 1 field playable because of damage caused by the concert.
Selwyn Times revealed the rugby club’s frustration over damage to the No 1 and No 2 grounds and apparent delay by the district council to start repairs, which has impacted the start of the season.
Damage means the No 1 field needed to be realigned for it to be played on. There will also be new goalposts.
Work was scheduled to be finished for the Lincoln Stags colts match with the Waihora Longhorns on Saturday.
Rugby club president Kym Townsend said the goalposts cost $18,000. The club and council are paying $9000 each, and the council will pay for the realignment. That cost has not been determined.
About 8000 people packed Lincoln Domain’s main two fields for the sold out Ronan Keating-headlined March 6 concert. Wet weather leading up to and after the concert meant heavy vehicles setting up and packing down the event damaged the fields, rendering them unplayable.
Townsend said last week he and Selwyn Sounds co-promoter David Parlane of 3 Coins Gentlemen had come to an agreement. It came after Selwyn Times questioned both parties over the issue.
Last Monday morning, Parlane told Selwyn Times the realignment of the ground was “news to me”.
Said Townsend: “(We) got a little bit, so that’s good. It is going to assist with costs incurred,” he said.
The agreement appears to come outside the $15,000 already paid by 3 Coins Gentlemen to repair Lincoln Domain.
Council executive director community services and facilities Denise Kidd said repair work for the damage from Selwyn Sounds had been completed and the hirer (3 Coins Gentlemen) “fully covered the costs of around $15,000”.
Townsend said it had been “a hectic last three weeks with council meetings, trying to figure out what we’re going to do,” to get the ground back for rugby.
The damage forced the club to shift its games to the No 3 and 4 grounds, a distance away from the clubrooms, behind a large hedge and with a separate car park to the main one.
“The big impact is the loss of our bar takings, and our sponsors signage is not really being seen properly.
“We’re effectively shifting the entire field. But it’s costing us a fair chunk of change. We’re getting a better set of posts out of it, but it wasn’t really in the budget,” Townsend said.
Parlane said part of the agreement with council was to get the fields back to the same condition as they found them.
“That has been done,” he said.
Townsend said the No 2 ground will still be unusable “for at least another month” after work to repair and resow the grass.
Council recently cut the hedge by the tennis courts to give better vehicle access for events at Lincoln Domain.