He is a journalist, civil engineer and professor at Universidad Nacional del Sud on matters relating to architectural heritage and urban planning. He has published articles in the journals Vivienda, Todo es Historia, Obras & Protagonistas and Summa+. Participates in many small radios that refer to the history of Bahía Blanca. On two occasions it received first mention from ADEPA in the category of Culture and History.
91 years ago, in July 1932, the Basque Federation opened a tennis court in the traditional Lamadrid-Laval court.
A relief entity founded in 1894 by a group of 47 Basques residing in our city, whose first name was Lorac Bat, which means “four in one”, referring to the four regions of the Basque Country: Alava, Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa and Navarra. Later it was modified to the current version of Unión Vasca.
The truth is that, despite being a traditional sport, the Lavalle y Lamadrid stadium, inaugurated in 1914, has never had any flair. Hence the importance of building it, so that this sport is again practiced by the members who until then had no place of their own to practice it. The stadium was built with “all modern conveniences”, 29 meters deep by 8.20 meters wide, enclosed, with a drum at the front and two halls for fans.
To use the facilities it was required to be a member of a ballpark, and to pay a fee of 1.50 pesos per month. The inauguration was included by the mayor of the municipality, Agustín de Arrieta, in the formalities issued on July 9 of that year. In fact, the mayor himself was the first to hit the ratchet, leaving the venue officially empowered. “So far we have been developing the work of mutual aid. But this is the right moment to expand our field of work, and to popularize this game, which is one of the glorious Basque traditions,” said Commander Martín Esandi in his inaugural address.
This tradition and the past itself is still valid to the present.
Oddly enough, the entity had two fields—one open and one enclosed—in 1909, when it built its headquarters at Brown and Villarino Streets, and never occupied them. These spaces later became the courtyards of the regular school, which occupied the building.
