A spat is brewing between the Auckland Trotting Club and the New Zealand Trotting Hall of Fame.
The museum is set to be disestablished at Alexandra Park to make way for commercial opportunities, leaving millions worth of memorabilia without a home.
From Commodore’s first Auckland Cup win in the late 1800s to New Zealand’s first million-dollar harness horse Cardigan Bay; the only trotting museum in Australasia has so much history it’s even drawn celebrities such as Rod Stewart to its halls.
“He rang up the Auckland Trotting Club to see if there was a room because he liked harness racing,” NZ Trotting Hall of Fame president Gilbert Myles said.
Hall of Famer Noel Taylor gifted $650,000 in 1969 to set up the museum but it’s now facing demolition.
Auckland Trotting Club president Jamie MacKinnon said the museum has to go though.
“The facility itself is in a prime place on the property and we are looking to repurpose it into some sort of commercial activity that will make money for the club rather than lose money,” he said.
The Auckland Trotting Club, who own the land and pay the museum’s outgoings, deny the removal of the building is to combat their multimillion-dollar debt.
“We’ve got to look what is in the best interest of members,” MacKinnon said.
“It’s not a facility frequented by many people – [the Hall of Fame] will claim otherwise but I think the members told the truth at our AGM.
“People don’t go in there.”
As to what happens to the collection, MacKinnon said it will be repurposed in the main building at Alexandra Park.
But Myles believes that isn’t good enough.
“These people who want to get rid of this shouldn’t be involved in the industry at all.”
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