The formalities took place in the gap between the east and west stands \u2013 the area that will be populated by temporary seating for All Blacks tests and a stage for concerts such as the Foo Fighters and Robbie Williams. <\/p>\n
Anyone who is anyone was at the official opening of One New Zealand Stadium on Friday morning. <\/p>\n
There was the Southbridge royal family of Crusaders and All Blacks legend Carter with his mum and dad \u2013 Bev and Nev. <\/p>\n
There were politicians, of course. Some, like Gerry Brownlee and Megan Woods, have played a lead role in getting the stadium across the line. There were others who played no significant role whatsoever. <\/p>\n
There were local councillors \u2013 some of whom were around for the dilly-dallying that led to the stadium formerly known as the Canterbury Multi-use Arena being delayed by about eight years and costs blowing out by hundreds of millions of dollars. The final bill was $683 million.<\/p>\n
The northern end of One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch. Photo \/ Mike Thorpe<\/p>\n
There was mana whenua of Ng\u0101i T\u016b\u0101huriri, Bishop Peter Carrell, business heads, contractors and media. <\/p>\n
Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge and Warriors CEO Cameron George were there. Both will watch their teams run out to sold-out crowds when they make their stadium debuts in the coming months. They haven\u2019t been the best of friends lately. Another awkward parallel, one shares a sponsor with the stadium \u2013 the other is linked to that sponsor\u2019s opposition.<\/p>\n
George likens the stadium to Sydney\u2019s flash new CommBank Stadium \u2013 only with a roof.<\/p>\n
The last to arrive was Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. He was late but didn\u2019t let his tardiness prevent him from slowly taking in the undercover wonders of One NZ Stadium as he ambled down the western touchline. <\/p>\n
The wind outside blew with a ferocity that threatened to drown out the opening waiata by mana whenua. Carrell blessed the structure \u201cwithin these walls, under this mighty roof\u201d. <\/p>\n
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger was introduced to speak first. He looked genuinely surprised at the early invitation before delivering a quintessential Mauger-ism. <\/p>\n
\u201cIsn\u2019t this grouse? Better than sliced bread!\u201d he boasted in his own unmistakably unfiltered style.<\/p>\n
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger successfully untangles his mayoral chains, flanked by Dan Carter and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo \/ Mike Thorpe<\/p>\n
Next up was Luxon, a proud Cantabrian who described the venue as \u201ca dream we\u2019ve all been waiting to see happen\u201d. He praised the efforts of Brownlee, Woods and \u201cthe 4000 people and nearly 2.5 million working hours\u201d that brought the dream to life. <\/p>\n
Throughout the speeches, the gathered ministers, former ministers and councillors all took their turn to nod at appropriate times \u2013 some subtly, some vigorously. All with the furious agreement that occasions like this evoke. Even from some who shook their heads when the project was first mooted. Then the nodding stopped as all eyes were fixed on one of two big screens. <\/p>\n
Simon Barnett appeared first in a cast of many well-known Canterbury identities. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2011, we lost everything,\u201d said Barnett.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot just our city \u2013 but our centre.\u201d <\/p>\n
The video was a slick production that centred around the message of \u201cWelcome home\u201d. As the clip ended, a sudden strong gust of wind rumbled outside with impeccable timing. A reminder of what crowds won\u2019t be dealing with when the first event, rugby\u2019s Super Round, kicks off in exactly four weeks.<\/p>\n
The view from the southern stand of One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch, which will host its first event next month. Photo \/ Mike Thorpe<\/p>\n
The official opening came as Bev and Nev Carter held a ribbon across the northern goal posts and Mauger, Luxon and young Arahura, mokopuna of Ng\u0101i T\u016b\u0101huriri Upoko Te Maire Tau, cut the ribbon into pieces. That was followed by Dan Carter ceremoniously christening the posts by slotting a goal from right in front and Mauger unsuccessfully attempting to catch the kick, while entangling his mayoral chains.<\/p>\n
Everybody clapped before turning their attention to the catering.<\/p>\n
Bev Carter (left), Phil Mauger, Arahura, Christopher Luxon and Neville Carter during the ribbon cutting at One NZ Stadium. Photo \/ Mike Thorpe<\/p>\n
This is not the sort of venue that needs to distract you with crayfish rolls, chicken pretzel sliders, bolognese vol-au-vents, and macarons. But they did anyway. <\/p>\n
Quality food is a theme at this stadium. Walking around the concourse in the post-opening tour, the food vendor signage is already up and some of Christchurch\u2019s best-loved operators will be there. <\/p>\n
If you\u2019re in a corporate zone, you\u2019ll experience live sport in a way that\u2019s not been seen before in this country. A long and luxurious lounge that holds 850 people and leads out to a landing with a full view of the field. The West Stand is largely corporate and includes rows with beer fridges attached. <\/p>\n
Another feature of the stadium, and I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s permanent, is the 5G connectivity that picked up and sent a video of Dan Carter kicking the goal faster than I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n
Appropriate, perhaps, because One NZ Stadium is a month away from becoming the hottest spot in New Zealand entertainment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The formalities took place in the gap between the east and west stands \u2013 the area that will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50545,5201,104783,29815,6440,185968,185969,84122,99485,6101,2944,117,111,43,139,185970,69,59966,5270,2680,66146,13743,185971,16674,24994,684,1865,8238,3608,18980],"class_list":["post-350723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-christchurchs","tag-closed","tag-demonstrate","tag-downpours","tag-ever","tag-fantasticality","tag-fullyenclosed","tag-functional","tag-galeforce","tag-good","tag-inside","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northwesterly","tag-nz","tag-officially","tag-one","tag-opens","tag-roof","tag-sent","tag-sideways","tag-stadium","tag-sudden","tag-there","tag-today","tag-under","tag-were","tag-winds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}