Ref returns to tear down park

Grant Harding
As a rugby referee, Graeme McHattie blew his whistle often on Nelson Park during an 18-year career.
Now he's blowing fulltime on the park as project and contract manager for MWH NZ Ltd, the engineering consultants working with the Hastings District Council on its demolition.
As heavy Machinery tore the grandstand structures to shreds yesterday, Mr McHattie remembered the ground's halcyon days.
"It was the best ground in Hawke's Bay," he said. "I liked it better than McLean Park. It was a super ground.
"Hawke's Bay played midweek games here. Farmers would come to the sale yards and then come and watch the footy.
"We always got a good crowd. That's why they put midweek games in Hastings. All the top unions played here and a lot of them said they liked it better than McLean Park."
Mr McHattie, who controlled about a dozen of those midweek first-class games - "pre-season fixtures" - said there was something special about the layout of the ground, with the bank facing the main stand.
Despite his love for the park, he recognised that the lack of people attending club matches these days had made it look like a "white elephant".
"It's just one of those things," he said. "I feel it is a pity that they've chosen to pull it down. But we can't get too upset about these sorts of things. Things have got to change."
And they're changing quickly.
In just three weeks of work on the site, half of the bank's 53,000 cubic metres of earth have been removed, the running track has been lifted, some trees, hoardings and field fences have been removed, and now the grandstand is being dismantled.
Much of the structure, including the roof, was dismantled yesterday, and Hastings District Council infrastructure programme manager, Mark Kinvig said the "muncher" - a heavy machine with jaws - would now go to work on the concrete.
Within two to three weeks it should be levelled, possibly cleared away.
Recycling is a major part of the project - the running track will head to Auckland, soil from the bank to the historic and now closed Roy's Hill landfill to cap it and much of the wood seating has also been saved.
With seven weeks remaining Mr Kinvig is pleased with progress, although he says there is still much to do to prepare the site for the developer, Charter Hall, which intends to build a large format retail park on the site.
Among the tasks is the digging up of the field's top soil, which will be replaced with silt from the bank. Mr McHattie said the time allocated will be needed.
"Anyone can make a mess," he said of the first three weeks' demolition work. "But it's a good contractor who can clean up."