HistoryThe fledgling Orange Municipal Council addressed the issue of sporting facilities in July 1862 when it applied to the government for land to be reserved for a cricket pitch at the south east corner of the township in an area that had been set aside for a reserve in the original village plan of 1846. This has been Orange's major sporting venue ever since and is today known as Wade Park in honour of Sir Charles Gregory Wade, former Judge of the Supreme Court, Attorney General, and Member of the Legislative Assembly and Minister for Justice.
Wade Park was formally opened during the Municipal Jubilee Celebrations in January 1910 by the Minister for Lands, the Hon S W Moore, following a procession through town which featured the Salvation Army Band, Boy Scouts, and the Cycle Club. A "Continental Carnival' at the park was seen as a fitting culmination to the festivities.
Improvements to Wade Park have been consistently made over time. In September 1926 the ''Orange Leader'' reported that, following the laying out of a new cricket ground and football oval, a large group of cricketers armed with shovels, horses and drays assisted in the levelling and draining of the playing area. A challenge was issued for the footballers to do the same in order to make' the ground a paradise for our long suffering sportsmen and an asset the townspeople could well be proud of'.
The advent of greyhound racing at Wade Park in the 1930s brought added facilities but it also increased pressure on the ground due to its many uses. Construction of a new $150,000 grandstand began in September 1976 for completion early in the 1977 football season and further works were undertaken in the 1980s and 90s. The reshaping of the playing surfaces will be undertaken before January 2011 with funding received from the Commonwealth Governments' Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program. This project will provide a more uniform playing surface and improvement to drainage and irrigation.
