In 1890 the need for a public recreation reserve was becoming urgent, both for our sporting bodies, and for week-end visitors. However when it  came to the question of where the recreation reserve should be, bitter arguments followed.

Ellis Park, the area along the creek flats behind and to the north of Diamond Valley College was a favourite place, because it was already hosting formal race meetings on Boxing Day each year.

The other proposed site was the present location of the reserve on the south side of the Main Hurstbridge Road, however, it was cut in half by a shallow gully and bordered the swampy area adjacent to the lagoon in the area that now forms part of the Challenger Street Reserve.

A number of residents had held and paid rates on miners rights in the area of the proposed reserve for 20 to 30 years, who would want compensation to pass over the titles to their claims. So it was not only the location of a new reserve that was discussed at a heated and contentious meeting of ratepayers and others held at the Literary Institute on the 6th June 1890. There were heated discussions about location, legal right to titles and claims, and accusations of shady dealings to include non-ratepayers in a final vote. The meeting decided there had not been enough notice or time given and it was agreed to leave a decision until matters of compensation were clear.

It wasn’t until mid-1899 that a resolution and decision was made and a committee setup to manage use of the reserve, now Marngrook Oval.