The Auckland Trotting Club has served an eviction notice on the New Zealand Trotting Hall Of Fame.
Club president Jamie MacKinnon yesterday notified the Hall Of Fame its tenancy agreement will end on March 31 and it must vacate by that date.
The order comes just two weeks after MacKinnon was universally denounced for his arrogant response when interviewed by TV One on why the club wanted to get rid of the southern hemisphere’s only harness racing museum.
And it has raised questions why the ATC has made no attempt to negotiate with the Hall Of Fame committee which wrote to the board last month asking to discuss the bombshell it dropped at the annual general meeting that it needed the site of the specially designed building for parking.
The ATC board has not communicated with the Hall Of Fame on the issue for nearly two years, since its former CEO Mauro Barsi was invited to speak to the Hall Of Fame committee on January 18, 2021.
That meeting ended with president Gilbert Myles saying the Hall Of Fame was happy to talk further about Barsi’s proposal to rehouse the museum at Alexandra Park.
The Hall Of Fame today signalled it will be vigorously defending its right to stay in the building which was funded by former ATC president Noel Taylor who wanted a secure site for the valuable trophies and memorabilia which have been accumulated for the last 50 years.
It has an open-ended paid-up lease on the building and has engaged a barrister from Shortland Chambers to argue its case.
The dispute will inevitably end up in court as the Hall Of Fame, a separate Incorporated Society, also holds a caveat on the land on which the building sits to protect its position. The Auckland Trotting Club is teetering on the brink of insolvency and still owes the banks more than $73 million after losing $108 million building apartments at Alexandra Park.
The club has already sold off most of the rest of its land bordering Green Lane Rd - hence the need for more parking spaces - and has entered into an agreement to sell its training centre at Pukekohe.
The prospect of yet another legal battle will not please the ATC’s members who were promised by the board it would not get involved in any more expensive litigation after spending tens of millions of dollars on battles in recent years.
Show your opposition to the ATC’s eviction notice and help save the New Zealand Trotting Hall Of Fame by signing the petition on the link below.
https://chng.it/Qr5mNqfS