Pioneer Amateur Sports Club
Dates
- Existence: 1879 - 1976 - 1976
Biography
In 1879 pioneer cycling enthusiasts formed the Pioneer Bicycle Club to foster 'the new and exciting sport of bicycle racing' and to cater for sportsmen from all around the South Island interested in cycling. In 1889 the club amalgamated with the Canterbury Amateur Athletic Club, also founded in 1879, to form the Pioneer Amateur Bicycle and Athletic Club.
In 1904 the club's headquarters building was opened and it became the centre for a wide variety of amateur sports ranging from cycling to billiards, tennis and mountaineering. A motor club was added in 1918 and the organisation was renamed the Pioneer Amateur Motor and Sports Club. In 1919 older members formed the Pioneer Sports Club Company Limited as a holding company to own and manage the club's premises. In 1933 a fire badly damaged the building,which was not reopened until 1935. Also in 1933 the club's name reverted to simply the Pioneer Amateur Sports Club. Membership dwindled as other sports established their own headquarters, and in 1968 the club was disbanded.
In 1976 the club company was wound up and its assets handed to the Christchurch City Council.
Although the Club wound up in 1976, handing its assets and selling its site to the Christchurch City Council, some associated clubs, including the Pioneer Motor Club, remain active. The Pioneer Sports Stadium, opened in 1978, was paid for from these assets, and named in honour of the Club.