A sponsorship deal is to change the name of Wairarapa's historic premier rugby venue.
Approval has been given to change Masterton's Cameron and Soldiers Memorial Park to Trust House Memorial Park.
In exchange for its name being used in the park's official title, Trust House is to pay $25,000 a year to Masterton District Council, the ground's owners, in a five-year contract.
The council agreed to the proposal under the condition that letters of support were received from the Returned Servicemen's Association and the Cameron family, who gifted the park to Masterton as a memorial to fallen soldiers after World War I.
Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Football Union chief executive Phil Taylor said he and former mayor Bob Francis had discussed ways of raising funds and the Trust House deal was an option that "came to fruition".
Mr Taylor said the union had to look at alternative funding sources in the face of a reduction in income from the New Zealand Rugby Football Union.
"Some of the funding which we had was no longer assured, and in order to continue we had to look at other sources.
"I opened the door, and (Trust House) were the ones to step through," Mr Taylor said.
He said after confirming a proposal with Trust House, he met Masterton District Council chief executive Wes ten Hove and Mayor Garry Daniell, who opted to put the matter before council.
The required letters of support have since been received and new signs are to be designed.
Mr Taylor said the deal had been a "very long exercise. Its fruition is gratifying".
He also saw it as a "continuation of a working relationship" with Trust House.
"We are now just working through the little bits and pieces."
John Thompson, who was consulted on behalf of the Cameron family, said he was in full support of the move as "this will benefit sport in Masterton and we are not going to stand in the way of that".
He was sure those sentiments would have been also supported by his grandfather Donald John (DJ) Cameron, who with brother Robert gifted the park to the town as both a facility to promote sports and to remember fallen soldiers.
The brothers donated the 14ha park particularly as a memorial to DJ's beloved 21-year-old son Lieutenant Norman Cameron, who was killed in the opening days of the Gallipoli campaign.
"Norman was a well-known rugby player who played for the Red Star Club.
"As you can imagine, (DJ) was pretty devastated and the people of Masterton were quick to support the project with donations and material."
The brothers continued to develop the park and provided a sports pavilion and running track, which at one stage was considered the best in the Dominion, Mr Thompson said.
The land had originally belonged to Masterton's Agricultural and Pastoral Association, which sold it to a syndicate of 12 members, the Cameron brothers among them.
The brothers eventually bought all of the land, which included a grandstand the A and P Association left behind when it relocated across town to the Solway Showgrounds.
The grandstand was blown in by a storm in 1934, and the grounds were also used by the army as a camp during World War II.
After the war, the council took over the running of the park.
"I am happy that the word 'Memorial' has been left in the title, as that's what the park was meant for, and it's also good that this will enhance sport in Masterton."
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