[COM] Adelaide Oval Redevelopment

[crawf]

great news..

$25m pledged to revamp Oval
January 26, 2007 12:33pm

THE Federal Government will provide up to $25 million towards the redevelopment of the western grandstand at the Adelaide Oval.

Finance Minister Senator Nick Minchin announced the grant today with South Australian Cricket Association chairman Ian McLachlan, ahead of the one-day international clash between Australia and England.

Senator Minchin said the funding was conditional upon the State Government increasing its contribution from $16 million to match the Commonwealth offer.

He said Adelaide Oval was "the most beautiful and picturesque" Test cricket ground in the world and an asset of both historic and cultural significance.

Mr McLachlan said the funding would allow SACA to develop the entire western stand, increasing the ground capacity by about 5000 to 37,000.

He said the association was currently negotiating with the State Government about increasing its contribution and was "hopeful of having some more good news in the coming weeks".

The development, which will cost about $70 million, is expected to start after Easter 2008 and will take about 18 months to complete.

[Mants]

and from today's advertiser:

$70m upgrade but no footy

CRAIG BILDSTIEN

January 27, 2007 12:15am
Article from: The Advertiser



ADELAIDE Oval's western stand will be upgraded at a cost of $70 million after the Federal Government yesterday backed the project – but there will still be no AFL matches played there.

The long-awaited upgrade will boost the ground's capacity to 37,000, fuelling the South Australian Cricket Association's ambition to host top-level football.

The SACA's AFL bid yesterday was backed by Lord Mayor Michael Harbison, federal Finance Minister Nick Minchin and state Opposition Leader Iain Evans.

But the AFL, SANFL and local AFL clubs Adelaide and Port Adelaide again flatly ruled out moving any games from AAMI Stadium at West Lakes.

Senator Minchin yesterday used the traditional Australia Day day-night cricket match to announce funding of up to $25 million, conditional on matching funds from the State Government.

Premier Mike Rann, who has already committed $16 million, welcomed the federal contribution and said he was prepared to consider providing an extra $9 million.

This would bring the combined funding from the two governments to $50 million.

SACA chairman Ian McLachlan said even without the extra $18 million, the SACA was prepared to borrow enough to begin the project after Easter, 2008.

Expected to take at least 18 months, it will add a tier to the western stand, providing extra bars, dining rooms, corporate boxes and capacity for an extra 5000 spectators.

Mr McLachlan said the expansion would "most certainly attract rugby, soccer and, I hope one day, the AFL".

But SANFL executive commissioner Leigh Whicker immediately dismissed the idea and said: "How many times do we have to go through this? We have made our position very clear, the AFL has made its position very clear. It is not on our agenda at all – full stop."

AFL spokesman Patrick Keane agreed, saying SA already had an outstanding football stadium.

Adelaide Football Club chief Steven Trigg said: "AAMI Stadium is our home, where we want to be."

Likewise, Port Adelaide Football Club chief executive John James said his club was "totally committed" to AAMI Stadium and described SACA's push for AFL as "wishful thinking".

The SANFL last year unveiled plans for a $70 million facelift of AAMI Stadium over the next five years.

Mr Harbison said he would love to see footy at Adelaide Oval. "I've always been very supportive of that," he said.

Mr Evans said Friday night football at Adelaide Oval would be tremendous but he acknowledged commercial realities at AAMI Stadium meant it was "never going to happen".

[Pistol]

I can't wait for this to be completed. The surge in popularity of cricket this summer means that we need a stadium with extra capacity. This is evident in both the international and domestic matches with domestic 20/20 matches drawing 15k+ crowds. The start and expected finish date coincide with the next Ashes campaign in Australia and what better way to unveil our new 'baby' to the rest of the world. One issue is that even though there are going to be extra seats, these will go to members only I am gathering as this is the members stand. Lucky I am a member then!

[Cruise]

The sooner they get AFL there the better i say i hope to one day see a footy game saturday afternoon then head oof to the casino for some investing!!!

[Pistol]

^^ Ha ha I'll see ya at the cas to make sure those investments pay off.

[Pikey]

Sorry, and I know I am not the only one, but I've had enough of the political rambling that has gone on in the other thread. People were warned, those warnings weren't heeded, so it is gone.

Now THIS is a thread for construction discussion only. If you wish to discuss the "conspiracy theories," "hidden agendas" or "Vote rigging," create a thread in the pub section.

No more, this is for construction discussion/updates only. And don't bother PM'ing me or any other moderator whinging about the removal of the other thread, you've had your warnings, they were ignored, you pay the penalty.

Thanks to Xaragmata, here are some recent construction pics.

Thank you.

From Sunday...













http://xaragmata.mooo.com/album/adelaid ... index.html

[crawf]

Thanks Pikey, though I think we still need a thread for general discussion regarding the development of Adelaide Oval (excluding any political rants).

Split it like City Central maybe?, or put it in the General Development section

Here's today's main article
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 5863324128

[Pikey]

Yeah, I reckon let's chuck them into the General Development Section, good suggestion Crawf.

Found out some info today, the reason the Favco 380D was removed, was not only for access reasons, but also lifting capacity. The new, massive mobile crane has a much, much higher lifting capacity. The roof trusses needed more than a tower crane, hence the monster Demag (I believe that is the make.)

It was mentioned to me that the mobile crane on site is the exact same size as the crawlers found on the Freedom Tower site in New York.

[stumpjumper]

THe redevelopment of Adelaide Oval's western grandstand is one thing, as Pikey rightly points out in the now closed thread.

The additional , semi-secret $450 million development is still a matter worth discussing.

It will be interesting to see how the cricket and football oval of 190m x 125m is modified to allow good viewing of a soccer pitch of 105m x 70m. Meanwhile Ben Buckley's FFA is building brand new, FIFA compliant rectangular arenas in Sydney and Melbourne for about $300 million each. What a laugh if Buckley builds one here that rents for half the price of the SACA/SANFL/AFL effort! Note that the 'extensive consultation' which will be blamed for the outcome is now underway - well down the track, it seems, and limited to respondents who are likely to give the required response to its questions.

[stumpjumper]

The future of the Adelaide Oval Stadium plan may come down to a mix of cost and politics - probably more politics than cost.

International construction economists Franklin and Andrews put the cost in 2010 of enlarging an existing stadium at approximately $5,000 per seat. The cost of the AFL/SANFL/SACA proposal at $450 million is $15,000 per seat - a world record.

A few things to bear in mind:

SACA CEO Mike Deare was sacked in August 2009 for revealing that there was a $350 million plan to enlarge the Bradman Stand and make other alterations in addition to the $50 million Western Grandstand redevelopment to bring the oval up to 45,000 seats, enough for AFL matches.

The "Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority" was registered as a company on Dec 23rd 2009 following the re-announcement of the plan (now $450 million) by Mike Rann, in time for the March 2010 election.

Extensive confidentiality agreements that have prevented anyone involved from discussing the project, although there have been strong rumours of a further $100,000,000 blowout in cost, and of the whole project being a sham to kill the Liberals' 'new stadium' proposal.

There is currently a well-sourced rumour that both the Adelaide Crows and the SANFL, unable to get the guarantees of income and quality of facilities they want in order to leave AAMI Stadium, are looking for a way out of their in-principle agreement to bring football back to the Oval.

Mike Rann's media adviser Jill Bottrall has stated: ""The Government will help where it can but it's not really our responsibility. They're the ones who came to us and said that they wanted to do this. We're helping, but we're not the parties involved because they're not our assets. We're just there to facilitate."

Kevin Foley's media adviser Rik Morris follows up with: "The AFL came to us. They worked closely with the SANFL and SACA and came to us with a plan … and said it could be done for $450 million … and nobody has told us otherwise.”

Meanwhile the Stadium Management Authority, comprising eight people from SANFL and SACA, are spending their way through the $5,000,000 preliminary investigation fee the SA government has provided, with their deliberations, activities and expenditure covered by the commercial-in-confidence mantle.

Perhaps this is the right way to go about things - maybe I am a conspiracy theorist...

[stumpjumper]

Here's an earlier one (Aug 09):

[stumpjumper]

Andrew Demetriou of the AFL was on the radio this afternoon, saying that all was well with the development and that final agreement is close.

[skyliner]

This new thread a great idea - I agree with the sentiments concerning the other thread. Thanks Xara for the pics.

It does look a bit odd with the big western stand dwarfing everything else however.

SA - STATE ON THE MOVE

[crawf]

Its funny to think that in a few years, the new western grandstand will be the smallest in Adelaide Oval.

[Pants]

Adelaide Oval redevelopment cost may blow out to more than $450 million
Greg Kelton, State Editor From: AdelaideNow May 13, 2010 9:20am


TREASURER Kevin Foley is refusing to rule out a cost blowout in the proposed redevelopment of Adelaide Oval.

Mr Foley has revealed he has had informal advice about the cost of the project originally intended to be $450 million but said the Government would not make any decision on future funding until it had received the final project plans from the Stadium Management Authority.

The Opposition has been questioning the Government about the project all week in Parliament and Liberal Treasury spokesman Iain Evans said the public simply could not trust what the Government said on the stadium.

"The reality is that this project is going to blow out," Mr Evans said on ABC radio. "The Government is now trying to give the project a broader scope to hide the blowout in cost."

On the same program, Mr Foley said "nothing is easy when it comes to multimillion-dollar complexes".

"Our position is very firm, we have put $450 million on the table," he said. "If the costs come back more than that we will make that decision at that point."

Asked if Premier Mike Rann was lying when he had said during the election campaign that the Government would put in $450 million and not a penny more, Mr Foley said he was not.

"We made a commitment prior to the election we would put $450 million into this project," Mr Foley said.

"That's the advice we were given by the Stadium Management Authority."

Mr Foley said the Government might find itself making a decision on further funding when it was presented with the final design for the redevelopment. He said the designers might present several options and the Government could face a decision of taking a minimalist option.