Sensational-Adelaide.com

That was, er, long.

I agree with what you're saying. Hopefully someone from Government will read these comments and respond in an even more public forum (the print media).

They need to make the stadium our main stadium or not at all!

get into talks with teh SANFL NOW!!!


I like his plan by the way.

Plans are always good, it means we don't get quick made decisions. Plan plan plan. Like our forefathers did with this city. We gotta plan everything.

Don't forget that the Marj Tahal goes against the recommendations of the Rann government's own report on how to improve the health system. Wasn't there also a report/estimate saying that it would be cheaper and quicker to overhaul the existing RAH? Regardless of the merits of a new hospital though, the selected site could be much better utilised.

I don't agree with all of the things mentioned in the article (assuming control of the parklands) and some need a bit more explanation (seaside villages) but overall it's certainly a step forward. The opposition is finally getting their shit together.

Bitching and moaning about the marj is such an ADELAIDE THING TO DO i thought we were better than that around here. It is going to be built there, we have the countries oldest population and health is very important. Dwelling on the decision and complaining with the hope of reversing it will not help, it just makes you sound like a bitching moaning small towner that doesn't realize that there are interests greater than their own, and that this city is big.

A stadium is not something that the state has a spare $500million to 1 billion to blow on, particularly given that aami stadium has had ~50million spent on it (with more to come) in recent years and adelaide oval will have had some similar amount. If you want to see sports at an inner city sports venue, why don't you treck down to Adelaide oval for the cricket?

By investing in roads, desalination, hopsitals and schools, the state has their priorities almost spot on. I love rail and would love to see a massive expansion, but unfortunately caring for our sick and elderly and investing in our roads (95% of all transport is by road) has come first for now, as well as making sure we have enough water and using innovative funding and mergers for better outcomes in education is more important.

But i digress, bitching about the location of a $1.5 billion hospital, which is arguably our states largest capital project ever, and is ever important to look after our sick is such a small town attitude. You can bet that other sites were investigated but this was the best they could come up with for a number of reasons, not all of which would have been obvious.

muzzamo wrote:Bitching and moaning about the marj is such an ADELAIDE THING TO DO i thought we were better than that around here. It is going to be built there, we have the countries oldest population and health is very important. Dwelling on the decision and complaining with the hope of reversing it will not help, it just makes you sound like a bitching moaning small towner that doesn't realize that there are interests greater than their own, and that this city is big.

A stadium is not something that the state has a spare $500million to 1 billion to blow on, particularly given that aami stadium has had ~50million spent on it (with more to come) in recent years and adelaide oval will have had some similar amount. If you want to see sports at an inner city sports venue, why don't you treck down to Adelaide oval for the cricket?

By investing in roads, desalination, hopsitals and schools, the state has their priorities almost spot on. I love rail and would love to see a massive expansion, but unfortunately caring for our sick and elderly and investing in our roads (95% of all transport is by road) has come first for now, as well as making sure we have enough water and using innovative funding and mergers for better outcomes in education is more important.

But i digress, bitching about the location of a $1.5 billion hospital, which is arguably our states largest capital project ever, and is ever important to look after our sick is such a small town attitude. You can bet that other sites were investigated but this was the best they could come up with for a number of reasons, not all of which would have been obvious.

And all we deserve, as the population that elected the current Government, is to be told within any justification whatsoever that the MJNH is to be in the railyards, and to hell with any other idea? If $1.5 billion is to spent, it had bettter damn well be spent appropriately.

This plan sounds like a dream but:

The plan also proposes a nationally significant sporting precinct would be built on the city’s western side, an inner and outer ring road and a series of seaside villages, he said.

Please explain?

[quote="rhino]

We don't need a new stadium at this stage, even though most of the people on this forum would like one.[/quote]

Really? Well just today it was announced that our Prime Minister wants to bid for the FIFA 2018 World Cup. It is because of this that we need a new stadium because Hindmarsh Stadium is so incredibly small. Meanwhile AAMI Stadium is not suitable for watching a World Cup soccer match properly and comfortably because it is oval shaped, whilst a soccer pitch is rectangular. Having a world-class entertainment precinct in the CBD will mean that many people will go meaning that the city will come alive more than what it ever has. And this will pump money into the state. This is because it is a world class event (just like the Grand Prix which the drivers used to always look forwrd to, however we let it go to Melbourne who merely have it going through Albert Park with not much for the drivers to experience).
Come on guys if Australia hosts the World Cup, every other city will host a match whilst we'll be left watching it on TV because we couldn't get of our bums and take some risks like Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Cheers.

adam73837 wrote:

rhino wrote:We don't need a new stadium at this stage, even though most of the people on this forum would like one.

Really? Well just today it was announced that our Prime Minister wants to bid for the FIFA 2018 World Cup. It is because of this that we need a new stadium because Hindmarsh Stadium is so incredibly small. Meanwhile AAMI Stadium is not suitable for watching a World Cup soccer match properly and comfortably because it is oval shaped, whilst a soccer pitch is rectangular. Having a world-class entertainment precinct in the CBD will mean that many people will go meaning that the city will come alive more than what it ever has. And this will pump money into the state. This is because it is a world class event (just like the Grand Prix which the drivers used to always look forwrd to, however we let it go to Melbourne who merely have it going through Albert Park with not much for the drivers to experience).
Come on guys if Australia hosts the World Cup, every other city will host a match whilst we'll be left watching it on TV because we couldn't get of our bums and take some risks like Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Cheers.

i'm on-side (soccer pun) with you adam73837. My opinion is a CBD sporting precinct, and vastly improved PT, are the top 2 priorities for the mining boom royalties. Other benefits will subsequently flow...and now for a few motivational quotes:
* Fortune favours the brave
* You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do
* even if you're on the right track you'll get run over if you just sit there
* etc...

Lets hope Kate Ellis (federal sports minister/member for Adelaide) will hint to the sleeping state govt that we're lagging behind the rest of the country when it comes to this issue!

If we were to build such a stadium we'd need to be very careful that we're not building another white elephant. The World Cup is a once off event that we may not win. Building a soccer stadium with in a few KMs of the existing Hindmarsh stadium sounds a bit redundant.

What other purposes could this stadium support post any world cup events?

monotonehell wrote:If we were to build such a stadium we'd need to be very careful that we're not building another white elephant. The World Cup is a once off event that we may not win. Building a soccer stadium with in a few KMs of the existing Hindmarsh stadium sounds a bit redundant.

What other purposes could this stadium support post any world cup events?

I think most people who have the view of building a new stadium, believe it should be multipurpose, so it could include soccer, football, rugby, cricket, concerts etc... thus the stadium would be in regular use and not a white elephant.

bmw boy wrote:

monotonehell wrote:If we were to build such a stadium we'd need to be very careful that we're not building another white elephant. The World Cup is a once off event that we may not win. Building a soccer stadium with in a few KMs of the existing Hindmarsh stadium sounds a bit redundant.

What other purposes could this stadium support post any world cup events?

I think most people who have the view of building a new stadium, believe it should be multipurpose, so it could include soccer, football, rugby, cricket, concerts etc... thus the stadium would be in regular use and not a white elephant.

So how does that gel with those who think that Football Park is unsuitable because it's oval shaped?

Mike Rann couldn't have said it better:

And I am sure the people of this state will oppose the infamy of more privatizations, school closures and the closing of wards at public hospitals.

Ok, that's shit stirring a bit, but just for some perspective here - a certain previous Labor state government privatised SAGASCO, closed my high school and all governments are forced to close hospitals wards from time to time - it's the realities of managing a budget.

I admire MHS for having the courage to outline a vision for SA in the future - I can't remember anything similar from either side of state politics previously. Yes, details of the funding arrangements need to be outlined for his plan to have more credibility. As for the city stadium, I don't think we need to build it for another 10 years, but it shows great vision to quarantine the site for the future. You can build a new hospital (which should be build as a priority over a new stadium) in other locations but the rail yards is surely the only option for a city stadium.

As for privatisation, when appropriate it can work - you rarely hear people complain about the privately run bus services compared the trains and the tram system. I suspect there'll be a quiet change in policy from Rann at the next election. He's backed himself into a corner at the moment.

What, then, is the existing situation with the SANFL and the SACA? If the SANFL will not allow for Crows or Power matches to be played at Adelaide Oval (I assume some kind of legal agreement to which both clubs are bound), I doubt they would relent with any new stadium. As the owner of AAMI Stadium, you can understand why they would see no real reason to let their major drawcards disappear into town, because then one of their largest sources of revenue disappears: match-day takings (tickets, food and drink, parking etc.).

Similarly, if the SACA is committed to the upgrading of Adelaide Oval in the relatively near future, I doubt they would want to commit money to an additional stadium nearby that would lessen the foreseeable cricket games played at AO.

It doesn't make any sense to publicly launch a full-scale stadium development until you have a commitment from tenants. As others have pointed out, the optimum football stadium is not going to look the same as the optimum soccer or rugby stadium, but if the SANFL or the SACA is not willing to commit their sporting teams to the new ground, then it makes no sense to design a stadium that makes compromises for sports that have little chance of being played there on a regular basis.

Similarly, if the recent Victoria Park saga is any indication, the opposition to the acquisition of land within the Parklands region - even that which is already taken up by existing buildings such as the railyards, will be very hard-fought by a percentage of the population. The key difference between this development and that of Victoria Park is that a stadium is more likely to be perceived as a public facility, and therefore more appealing than the perceived 'corporate box' development of Victoria Park (irrespective of the truth in either perceptions).

In an absolute perfect world, I would like to see the retention of Adelaide Oval, the demise of AAMI Stadium (a relic of '60s and '70s urban design and planning) and the construction of a new sporting venue in an appropriate city location. The Government is going to need some very, very clever people masterminding the negotiations with the SANFL and the SACA to ensure their tenancy, because I doubt very highly the necessary interest and support within the community (or the Government, for that matter) for a stadium with only Adelaide United as its primary tenant.

With that in mind, though, would Adelaide United accept the compromises in the playing surface required for football and cricket?