The Edgar Centre is a large multi-purpose indoor sports venue in
South Dunedin
South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, on the shore of
Otago Harbour
Otago Harbour is the natural harbour of Dunedin, New Zealand, consisting of a long, much-indented stretch of generally navigable water separating the Otago Peninsula from the mainland. They join at its southwest end, from the harbour mouth. It ...
close to
Andersons Bay Inlet Andersons may refer to:
People
*Andrew Andersons (born 1942), an Australian architect
*Jānis Andersons (born 1986), a Latvian ice hockey player
Other uses
*Anderson baronets, nine baronetcies, all extinct
*Clan Anderson, a Scottish clan
*The Ande ...
. It is the home venue of the
Otago Nuggets
The Otago Nuggets are a New Zealand basketball team based in Dunedin. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Edgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Night 'n Day Otago ...
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
team, and an alternate venue for the
Southern Steel
Southern Steel are a New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball South in the ANZ Premiership. Netball South is the governing body that re ...
netball
Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...
team. The centre also hosts a wide variety of other sports events and community events such as auctions and fairs, and is owned by the
Dunedin City Council
The Dunedin City Council ( mi, Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti) is the local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Dunedin is Jules ...
.
The building is named after Dunedin millionaire and philanthropist
Eion Edgar
Sir Eion Sinclair Edgar (30 January 1945 – 14 June 2021) was a New Zealand businessman and philanthropist. He was the chairman of Forsyth Barr Group, a major investment company based in Dunedin, for 20 years until his retirement in 2018, and ...
. Originally a wool-store, it was purchased and converted by the Dunedin City Council at a cost of NZ$2.5 million, of which 20% was provided by Edgar. The building was officially opened by Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
in 1995, and won the
Hillary Commission
Sport New Zealand (Sport NZ) (Māori: ''Ihi Aotearoa'') is a New Zealand Crown entity responsible for governing sport and recreation in New Zealand.
Sport NZ believes sport is an integral part of New Zealand's culture and way of life. The org ...
's 1996 Win-Win Facility Award. Extensions were carried out during 1996, which included the addition of a seminar room, refreshment facilities, foyer, and control rooms. In 2005, extra work was carried out, extending the playing area with the addition of the Lion Foundation Arena (now renamed the MoreFM Arena), which also includes a medical centre and enlarged viewing areas. The Arena is also used for functions and events, hosting up to 1,600 dinner guests.
The centre contains five ASF Hormer PR1 Messemate timber floor courts suitable and marked for netball, basketball, and
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
. It can be set up to provide 5 basketball courts, 21 netball courts, or 16 indoor
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
courts. Nets are also available for
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
training. In 2007 the centre hosted a
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
tie with Pacific Oceania. The main arena at the Edgar Centre is the More FM Arena (formerly the Lion Foundation Arena), which is the home venue of the
Otago Nuggets
The Otago Nuggets are a New Zealand basketball team based in Dunedin. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Edgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Night 'n Day Otago ...
basketball team and one of the home venues of the
Southern Steel
Southern Steel are a New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball South in the ANZ Premiership. Netball South is the governing body that re ...
netball franchise.
Stadium review of the More FM Arena
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At 14.4 hectares, the centre is the largest single-building indoor sports arena in the Southern Hemisphere.
References
External links
Edgar Centre website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar Centre
Netball venues in New Zealand
Sports venues in Dunedin
Southern Steel