On the afternoon of Saturday 19 June 1909, prior to the first bounce of the Round 9 match with Essendon, the then Lord Mayor of Melbourne James Burston formally opened a new grandstand on the northern side of Carlton Oval.
Designed by Frank Stapley and built by Spargo and Taylor, the graceful six-bay structure in brick, timber and cast iron would later be named after Alderman John Gardiner - Carlton’s 19th century footballer who captained the first Victorian team ever to take the field and served his club as President from 1914 until his retirement in 1924.
Today, some 115 years after Burston completed the noble deed, the Ald. Gardiner Stand remains after the Heatley, Harris and Pratt Stands all came and went.
But it’s a little-known fact that the Gardiner was earmarked for the wrecker’s ball, when in March 1952, almost three years after Melbourne won the right to host the ’56 Olympics by a vote, the Carlton ground was formally declared the site for “The Friendly Games”.
With great haste, Frank Heath and his team of architects, as winners of a world-wide competition for the best design, took up residence in the Robert Heatley Stand and duly planned for the construction of a magnificent 100,000-seat Carlton Olympic Stadium – complete with a continuous grandstand that would encircle the venue after the Gardiner was razed to the ground.
In turn, members of the organising committee – chaired by AW Coles and the then Carlton President KG Luke - began dealing with the many contingencies, amongst them the transfer of all Carlton home matches to the Coburg Recreation Reserve in the months leading up to the Games’ opening ceremony of 22 November 1956.
Of the impending demolition of the Gardiner Stand, the Carlton Secretary Larry Floyd noted in the 1952 Annual Report:
“Undoubtedly there will be some sadness among our older supporters when the buildings start to tumble; these house so many glories and happy memories – and of course a few disappointments.
"The Gardiner Stand, the high mounds, and other old buildings at the ground were not easily gained and have stood for so long as monuments to the hard work and vision of the pioneers – many of whom are still with us today. But as the new structures rise from the dust and rubble of the old, they too can take pride in the knowledge that it was their persistence in winning a permanent ground for the ‘Blues’ over half a century ago that has made the Olympic Stand at Princes Park possible.”
But, to paraphrase the Scottish poet, Robbie Burns, the best-laid plans of mice and men go awry - and despite the noblest of intentions of Luke and his hard-working committee, forces conspired against the Carlton push.
Though the MCG was always the Federal Government’s preferred venue, there was resistance from the MCC, and the stalemate almost resulted in the Games’ exodus from Melbourne.
The then Prime Minister Robert Menzies, ironically a lifelong Carlton supporter, saw the potential embarrassment to the nation and called for a three-day summit to thrash out the matter.
Attending was Victorian Premier John Cain senior, the deputy opposition leader Arthur Calwell, all state political leaders, civic leaders, Olympic officials and trustees and officials of the MCC.
By early 1953 the MCG had won the day, the Ald. Gardiner Stand was spared the wrecker’s ball and 17 Olympiads later Paris 2024 now looms.
