Stadium that hosted huge sporting events for over 100 years was demolished after devastating incident

A multi-sport stadium that hosted major events for over 100 years was left abandoned after a devastating natural disaster.

Lancaster Park, situated in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, hosted rugby union, cricket, football and athletics after being opened all the way back in 1881.

It was initially ploughed up during World War I and used as a potato field, before being expanded and renovated several times to eventually host over 38,000 people.

In 1930, it hosted New Zealand's first ever Test cricket match against England, and continued to be one of the preferred venues of the nation's cricket board until 2011.

𝙒𝙞𝙨𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 "𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙏𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙩"#OnThisDay in 2002, Nathan Astle smashed the Fastest Double Hundred in Tests - 222 off 168 v England.

Record for fastest 100 runs partnership… pic.twitter.com/Ya7FkoFRJv

— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) March 16, 2025

Lancaster Park was also home to 48 Test rugby matches for the All Blacks, and was planned to host seven matches at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

In football, it hosted two Australian A-League matches involving the nearby Wellington Phoenix in 2010.

And it was also used for music concerts, with Tina Turner, U2 and Billy Joel among the major artists to play there.

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Phillip, even once paid a visit to the stadium.

But the ground was significantly damaged by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch in February 2011.

An earthquake that has a magnitude of over 6 is considered as 'strong', and can cause major damage to populated areas.

A total of 185 people were killed, including 115 who were inside the Canterbury Television building that was collapsed and subsequently caught fire.

One of the major contributing factors to the damage was that a stronger 7.1 magnitude earthquake had hit Canterbury in September 2010, which had weakened buildings.

Lancaster Park was one of those buildings, and it was closed permanently later in 2011 once the extent of the damage had been fully assessed.

It was then left abandoned for several years, before being fully demolished between 2018 and 2019.

It is now a public recreation park in Christchurch and features 'green recreational space and community sports fields'.

In January 2025, the New Zealand government announced plans for a Community Centre to be developed, which will contain a 'multi-use function space accommodating around 100 people standing and 70 seated'.

There are plans in place to build a new stadium 1.5 miles away from the old site.

Christchurch City Council and the government have backed a $683 million proposal to build the 30,000-capacity One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha.

It is set to be used for sporting events, including football World Cup qualifiers and All Blacks Tests, and can be expanded to a capacity of 36,000 for music events, as per a press release.