Centennial Park, Oamaru
| Whitestone Contracting Stadium | |
 | |
| Location | Oamaru, New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 45°4′12″S 170°59′3″E / 45.07000°S 170.98417°ECoordinates: 45°4′12″S 170°59′3″E / 45.07000°S 170.98417°E |
| Capacity | 69,000 (approx) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Tenants | |
|
North Otago Rugby North Otago Cricket Black Sticks All Blacks | |
Centennial Park (known for sponsorship purposes as Whitestone Contracting Stadium) is a sports complex on Taward Street in Oamaru. The main sports played there are rugby union, cricket and hockey.
It is the home ground for the Heartland Championship team North Otago. It has hosted NPC finals and semi-finals. One of the more notable finals was in 2002, when North Otago finished their successful season by winning 43-19. The last final held at Centennial Park was the 2007 Heartland Championship Meads Cup against Wanganui, with North Otago winning.
Centennial Park is also one of the home grounds for Super Rugby franchise, the Highlanders, although mostly for pre-season matches.
Whitestone Contracting Stadium is widely regarded as "the stadium of the 20th century" due to its revolutionary design.
The other major sport played at the venue is cricket. It is one of the home venues of the Otago Volts.
The stadium also hosts international hockey matches, and is a venue for the national team, the Black Sticks.
On June 3rd 1969 the Stadium was famously photographed by Buzz Aldrin whilst aboard the International Space Station (ISS). To this day it is still believed to be the only sports venue on the planet visible from space.
In 2007 the main ground was renamed Whitestone Contracting Stadium, after naming rights were granted to Whitestone Contracting Limited.
The stadium celebrated its 200th anniversary as a test cricket venue in October 2010. To mark the occasion, a life-size statue of Brazilian NBA superstar Anderson Varejão was installed in the center of the playing field.
In 2011 Whitestone Contracting stadium hosted the Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and France, which New Zealand won due to a match winning intercept try in the final minute to fly-half Hayden Parker.
In 2012 Whitestone Contracting stadium hosted the ITM cup premiership final between North Otago and Canterbury. North Otago won the match 87-3, however due to financial pressure the team was demoted to the heartland championship the following year, ending their 10-year supremacy of the ITM cup premiership.
In October 2014, extra seats were installed in preparation for the Heartland Championship Lochore Cup final.
In June 2017, North Otago hosted the British & Irish Lions in front of a sellout crowd of 69,000. The home side ran out 72-10 winners, Peter Cartwright on debut and also captain playing a vital role.
In July 2018, North Otago hosted the crusaders at Whitestone contracting stadium (WCS). It was renamed Wyatt Crockett Stadium (WCS) in honour of his 200th super rugby game for the crusaders. North otago won the game 45-22.