If Otago ratepayers and rugby fans of the future go in search of the first nail in the coffin of Carisbrook and the spark that produced the Forsyth Barr Stadium, they might consider the events of June 2004.
It began with the All Blacks walloping the previous year's world cup champion, England, at Carisbrook by 36 points to 3.
New coach Graham Henry called it "unbelievable". England's Daily Mail called it a "crushing defeat".
But, among all the usual analysis of the test, one English journalist turned on Carisbrook itself. Observer sportswriter Eddie Butler filed a colour piece about Dunedin and its infamous House of Pain.
It started like this: "Dunedin never quite fulfilled its dream of becoming the Edinburgh of the South. Carisbrook sort of sums the city up.
"It is a primeval rugby ground, an untidy pile of girders and concrete blocks on the edge of town, surrounded by a highway, railway tracks, coal yards, car-repair shops and second-hand dealerships.
"It is cold and old, cramped and damp.
"They do not serve prawn sandwiches here; they sell meat pies, low on temperature, high on gristle."
And he finished like this: "...there is no place in England like horrible, run-down Carisbrook."
Dunedin reporter Stu Oldham brought the comments to the attention of Otago Daily Times readers under the headline "England chokes: was it the gristly pies?".
Then TV3 caught up with Butler in Auckland, where he described Carisbrook as "the pits" and complained about the open-air press benches.
"Even the man from BBC radio had to sit out here in amongst the general public."
But, somewhat confusingly, he added he did not mean to be derogatory.
"I like raw rugby. I think we are all pampered. I don't want us to play in palaces. I think cold and old damp and cramped is good sometimes."
Rather than condemn Butler's comments, then Otago Rugby Football Union chief executive Russell Gray agreed with him.
And so did others.
Improvements to Carisbrook were already being considered but it could be said it was Eddie Butler's comments that sparked the fireworks that created Dunedin's new rugby "palace".
