[COM] Memorial Drive upgrade

[fifty]

Check back here in four years when the next round of election sweeteners will be doled out....

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[Patrick_27]

Now that the Turnbull government has got back in is this redevelopment going ahead? If so has anyone got an idea when it is likely to start? This excites me. I feel that with a good tennis centre we can have a precinct as good as Melbourne

Turnbull's government didn't fund this project, they contributed $10m towards a feasibility study and early planning. The chances of anything happening before the end of the decade are unlikely, it'll probably be an election issue in 2018.

Whatever they build, our tennis centre will not even come close to what Melbourne offers, considering it'll be smaller than recently upgraded Margaret Court Arena (the smaller of the three arenas in the precinct.

[I Follow PAFC]

A $9.8 MILLION redevelopment of the Memorial Drive tennis precinct has been backed by Adelaide City Council.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger ... 2ef8676631

[fishinajar]

So long as they leave room for a multisport Riverbank Arena please.

[serca]

Doesn't that seem a little half-arsed

[crawf]

Key part in that article

Tennis SA chief executive Steven Baldas said the anchor project, funded by a Federal Government grant, was the first stage ahead of the redevelopment of the centre court stadium — which would enable bids for world-class events such as Davis and the Fed Cup.

[SRJ]

This upgrade excites me. It would be great to have a proper tennis tournament back in our fine city. Do we know when this is starting?

[I Follow PAFC]

Subscriber-only.

Grand new $150m vision for Memorial Drive. Exclusive A NEW 6000-seat, canopy-covered stadium proposed as part of a $150 million redevelopment of Memorial Drive would bring big-time tennis — including Davis Cup — back to Adelaide and complete the Riverbank sporting precinct.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... f76797285e

[ozisnowman]

Whilst exciting news the capacity they are talking of is on the small side. It should be somewhere between 12,000-15,000 to cater for major tennis, basketball and concerts. They should get rid of current entertainment center, where they could continue the Bowden development, and possibly also replace the basketball and netball stadiums. The CBD could attract larger crowds for those sports, just like AO upgrade has for AFL.

Tennis SA should be more ambitious than Brisbane or Sydney and try and get a Masters 500 or 1000 event.

[rockthenation]

Subscriber-only.

Grand new $150m vision for Memorial Drive. Exclusive A NEW 6000-seat, canopy-covered stadium proposed as part of a $150 million redevelopment of Memorial Drive would bring big-time tennis — including Davis Cup — back to Adelaide and complete the Riverbank sporting precinct.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... f76797285e

Only 6,000 capacity is disappointing.
The Clipsal Powerhouse or whatever it’s called now in Findon has an 8,000 seat capacity. Why would the 36ers want to move their home games to a lower capacity venue?


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[crawf]

Plan for $150 million redevelopment of Memorial Drive to create multi-sport centre, bring back big-name tennis
Reece Homfray, The Advertiser
an hour ago


A NEW 6000-seat, canopy-covered stadium proposed as part of a $150 million redevelopment of Memorial Drive would bring big-time tennis — including Davis Cup — back to Adelaide and complete the Riverbank sporting precinct.

The Advertiser can exclusively reveal Tennis SA’s plans for a multi-purpose arena it believes can host other sports including basketball, netball and boxing, concerts and other events for up to 100 days a year.

The current Memorial Drive tennis centre has been described as “tired”, does not meet international requirements for hosting Davis Cup or professional tournaments, and is only used for hosting events such as the World Tennis Challenge, which starts tonight, for 10 days a year.

The Federal Government has committed $10 million for Tennis SA to upgrade its outside courts to include world-class grass, clay and hard court facilities, but the total cost of the redevelopment is estimated at $125-150 million.

An artist’s impression of the proposed redevelopment of Memorial Drive centre court.
Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley said that the redevelopment would be “a big step forward for tennis”. “There is a need for a 21st century facility that can be filled with new, fresh content,” Mr Tiley said.

“We are really excited by this project and for what it would mean to the sport and for tennis fans in South Australia. We believe that with facilities such as these unveiled today, Adelaide can gain international prominence on the global tennis calendar.”

Tennis SA chief executive Steve Baldas says he has had “positive discussions” with both sides of politics in SA but neither has made a financial commitment to helping fund the project.

It’s hoped the overhaul will bring Davis Cup matches, led by captain Lleyton Hewitt, to Adelaide as well as a major tournament like the Brisbane and Sydney internationals.


An aerial view of an artist's impression of the new Memorial Drive centre court, and how it would look beside Adelaid Oval and the Torrens Footbridge.

An artist’s impression of the proposed redevelopment of Memorial Drive centre court.
“It’s fantastic for tennis and for South Australia, it’s a great opportunity and a chance to complete the Riverbank and Adelaide Oval sporting precinct, and bring major professional tennis back to South Australia,” Mr Baldas said.

“We’ve been looking at it for 10 years in terms of recognising that something needs to be done with Memorial Drive.

“It’s the spiritual home for tennis in South Australia. Our 50,000 players who play on a regular basis get a thrill to play here but it is tired and doesn’t enable us to compete for these major events.

The State Government and Opposition have been very positive, they see it as a good project for the state and when you look at what’s on the table, it makes it very attractive.

“We have an opportunity to bring Davis Cup, ATP and WTA events to Adelaide. If we don’t take that opportunity and miss securing that, it would be a real shame.”

Artist’s impressions show a canopy-covered arena with air flow and plans include window archways and ivy to link with the heritage of Adelaide Oval.

Mr Baldas said the venue would be used for a range of sport and community events.

“It’s our vision for the site, (but) from here to turning of the sod, it really is open for discussion to find the right solution,” he said. “Clearly this is a tennis venue and significant international content would be brought back, but this design has flexibility for other uses. It will become another creative community space in the Riverbank.

“What has been done so far is fantastic with a large 50,000-seat stadium (Adelaide Oval) for big events, a fantastic convention centre for business, and what we would bring is a space for 6000-plus for many different uses.

“We believe there would be at least 100 days of content (at the stadium), sporting events like tennis, netball, basketball, squash, beach volleyball, boxing, whatever that size would appeal to. There could be open-air concerts, Fringe Festival events, it’s such a good, flexible space in the heart of the riverbank.”

An artist’s impression of the proposed redevelopment of Memorial Drive centre court.
The Government and Opposition would not commit funds when approached by The Advertiser.

Sport Minister Leon Bignell said the Government backed sport at all levels.

“The proposal from Tennis Australia is one of a range of sporting facility projects presented to the Government and we will continue to work with Tennis SA and Tennis Australia,” Mr Bignell said.

Opposition sports spokesman Corey Wingard said the tennis upgrade was among competing priorities.

“We can see there is great upside (to the Memorial Drive project) but that’s just one of a list of facilities that needs work,” he said. “We were very supportive of phase one and we would be keen to have discussions about the next phase.”

CENTRE’S ENDLESS RALLY
1914: Memorial Drive Tennis Association established on 2.4ha of land.

1921: Governor Sir Archibald Weigall opens the first courts.

1923: The first clubhouse and grandstand built.

1926: Australian Open first held in Adelaide

1938: The existing grandstand on the northern side is built.

1974: Adelaide International, an Association of Tennis Professional (ATP) event established.

1994: Adelaide City Council proposes upgrade of Memorial Drive.

1996: British Davis Cup captain David Lloyd meets state treasurer Stephen Baker over a planned $25 million redevelopment.

1997: Olsen Government commits $3 million to a $15 million revamp.

1999: Despite legal threats between the developer and Cricket SA, $17 million redevelopment completed.

2008: Final Adelaide International tournament held. It becomes Brisbane International played at the new Pat Rafter Arena.

2010: Proposal put forward to put a roof on the tennis centre as part of the Adelaide Oval project.

2010: A $30 million refurb featuring retractable roof jettisoned.

2010: Tennis Australia calls for a “$15 million facelift”.

2014: A domed stadium with a “fabric” roof is proposed.

2016: Turnbull Government contributes $10m for new clay and hard courts and feasibility study for $200m upgrade.

[crawf]

It's very much early stages, so I'll take the concepts with a grain salt. Also there isn't anything we haven't heard already.

Memorial Drive is a terrible venue. You only need to see the Hopman Cup at the spectacular Perth Arena to see what an embarrassment Memorial Drive is in comparison. Same goes with the Entertainment Centre, which is falling well behind interstate venues. The Findon Stadium is nothing to sneeze at either. Therefore this is the perfect opportunity to combine those venues into one major modern multipurpose arena, putting Adelaide firmly back on the events map and boasting the riverbank precinct as a destination. 6,000 is grossly inadequate, it needs to at least have a capacity of 14,000 and able to be configured to range of uses, including major concert acts.

Perth Arena for example has a capacity of 15,500, though is able to be configured to just 3,500. This is exactly what Adelaide needs.

Do it right, or don't do it at all.

[how good is he]

I agree that a bigger site is needed. I think it should be 25,000 -35,000 capacity to allow for future growth esp for concerts. I can’t belive it costs $150m for a 6,000 seat stadium.. so what will one 5x the size cost, $750m??! Also is there any examples around the world of an indoor soccer/rugby stadium that is shared with a basketball/tennis/entertainment centre? It may be worth considering to cater for as much you can to justify spending the big bucks. Btw Footy Pk/AAMI stadium starts its demo. today... obviously it’s too late but I’m curious to know what would it have cost to put a roof on it?

[Patrick_27]

I agree that a bigger site is needed. I think it should be 25,000 -35,000 capacity to allow for future growth esp for concerts.

Mate, what planet are you on? 25,000-35,000? Sydney Super Dome, Australia's largest arena built for the Sydney Olympics, has a capacity of 21,000. Rod Laver Arena a capacity of 16,000. Tell me, what the hell would Adelaide host EVER that would require a capacity of 25,000-35,000? By all means whatever upgrade takes place, make allowances for expansion in the future if it's ever needed but at that size... Yeah right, wake up.

[Patrick_27]

It's very much early stages, so I'll take the concepts with a grain salt. Also there isn't anything we haven't heard already.

Memorial Drive is a terrible venue. You only need to see the Hopman Cup at the spectacular Perth Arena to see what an embarrassment Memorial Drive is in comparison. Same goes with the Entertainment Centre, which is falling well behind interstate venues. The Findon Stadium is nothing to sneeze at either. Therefore this is the perfect opportunity to combine those venues into one major modern multipurpose arena, putting Adelaide firmly back on the events map and boasting the riverbank precinct as a destination. 6,000 is grossly inadequate, it needs to at least have a capacity of 14,000 and able to be configured to range of uses, including major concert acts.

Perth Arena for example has a capacity of 15,500, though is able to be configured to just 3,500. This is exactly what Adelaide needs.

Do it right, or don't do it at all.

This! I'm hoping that the government are stalling on this because they also believe it should be larger scale project which incorporates netball, basketball, tennis and everything the AEC hosts into the one venue. It should also be said that Priceline Stadium at Mile End and the Entertainment Centre would make for great residential projects such as Bowden (especially when you consider the fact that there is plans to send a tram down to the airport). And if we're talking pipe dreams here... If you were to incorporate the AEC Arena into Memorial Drive, keep the AEC Theatre operating, bulldoze the arena and replace it with a new rectangular stadium in its place you'd be keeping this portion of Hindmarsh as an entertainment precinct. All that said, any project on the Memorial Drive site should see the relocation and demolition of Next Gen and even potentially a re-alignment of the roadway. This needs to stop being that thing that comes up every January around the World Tennis Series and actually needs to start being considered...