Establishing ?sports legends? first step on road to hall of fame

By JOHN MASLIN John.maslin@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
INVESTIGATING a sports hall of fame and recognition of Wanganui sports legends has been advanced with sub-committee in place to look at costs of the project.
The Wanganui District Council's sport and activity committee yesterday named five representatives for the sub-committee which will report back to the next committee meeting.
It includes Crs Sue Westwood and Barbara Bullock, Sport and Recreation Wanganui CEO Philip Kearney, deputy chairman of the Cooks Gardens Trust Board Gordon Keelty and Jane Lowe. All are members of the sports and activity committee.
A report from Mr Kearney and Wanganui Inc CEO John Quigley looked at the criteria to be recognised as a sporting legend and where the hall of fame may be.
Their report acknowledged that the location of the hall of fame did not have the same urgency as finding possible inductees as sports legends.
The idea had been mooted previously when the district council considered the Pierre de Coubertin centre in 1989.
Then in 1997 there was another approach to the district council to consider using the old fire station in Guyton St as the site for a NZ Sports Hall of Fame.
It was raised again last year when a task force was set up to look at the concepts before that task passed on to the sport and activity committee.
The report said Wanganui was well known as a active sports city, staging many national events and with many active sports clubs. Some of the more important events were now being used to attract spectators to stay longer in the city.
"Sports tourism was a multi-billion dollar business, one of the fastest growing areas of the $4.5 trillion global travel and tourism industry," the report said.
It said sports tourists are passionate, high-spending, enjoy new sporting experiences and often stimulated tourism.
"Any initiatives such as a proposed Sports Hall of Fame will only add value to the city ?. and enrich the experience of tourists and visitors," it said.
But the report said the first step was to establish the "sports legends". It suggests the criteria would be someone who had contributed something special, had made an indelible impact on the community through their efforts, and be from the Wanganui region (including Rangitikei and Ruapehu).
A judging panel would consider potential candidates then select award recipients.
The inductees would be named at an annual awards evening held each March.
And the report suggests naming rights for the event would attract sponsorship opportunities.
The Hall of Fame was seen as a secondary concern at this stage with options suggested including Cooks Gardens, part of the events centre in a roofed velodrome, at the visitors centre or an area within the Heart of Wanganui.
But the report said the debate on its location should not hold up development of sports legends awards.