Dorie Domain Board
Established: Dorie Domain Board appointed to have control over Dorie Domain on 20th November 1908 in the NZ Gazette.
Notable history: The Dorie Domain was previously a gravel reserve, before being appointed a public domain in the New Zealand Gazette on the 21st of August 1902.
The original Dorie Domain was a mere four acres in size.
On the 20th of November 1908, the members of the South Rakaia Road Board were appointed to be the Dorie Domain Board.
Right away, fencing was priority number one, and by 1909 fences and trees had been put up on the land.
For a good few years, no significant progress or alterations were made until the 1950s.
Through the sale of trees on the section including eucalyptus, the Board had some cash in their pocket which they used to vastly improve and expand the Domain.
On the 26th of August 1955, a tennis club was formed in Dorie and they approached the Board requesting the construction of two tennis courts.
By September that year, Burnetts Motors had brought in materials for the erection of these courts.
The NZ Gazette for the 16th of February 1956 tells us that the Dorie domain expanded to eleven acres, having absorbed an adjacent section of seven acres.
New trees and various plants for the Domain were purchased from Millichamps’s Nursery to spruce up the now enlarged Domain.
Swings were installed in 1958 at a cost of 10 pounds 5 shillings, and a shelter fence was put up for the tennis club at a cost of ten pounds to the Board.
The Dorie Domain has served the community well, having supplied a grounds for recreation for over a hundred years.
Past uses: Tennis club, general recreation.