[COM] Memorial Drive upgrade

[rev]

50 million of taxpayer funds for a wedding venue

Given the carry on in Adelaide over the multi purpose venue proposed by the previous government, this is as good as it is going to get for decades to come -so most got what they wished for. $50 million? Pocket money in any other state. But at least they're fixing the ambulance ramping eh?!

It’s been said here before, but the “carry on” was reasonable considering the riverbank arena was only financially viable if international conferences returned post-Covid - which is a huge IF.

Again, as many have already said here - we would’ve preferred they redid memorial drive properly as a 8,000-10,000 seat multipurpose arena. Surely could’ve been done much more cheaply than the $600m earmarked for the riverbank arena too.

It could have, there was a vision for $200-250 million.
They've spent $60 million, including the roof...ridiculous.
And Libs wanted to spend another $600-700 million on a new stadium a stones throw over the river.

[claybro]

Given the carry on in Adelaide over the multi purpose venue proposed by the previous government, this is as good as it is going to get for decades to come -so most got what they wished for. $50 million? Pocket money in any other state. But at least they're fixing the ambulance ramping eh?!

It’s been said here before, but the “carry on” was reasonable considering the riverbank arena was only financially viable if international conferences returned post-Covid - which is a huge IF.

Again, as many have already said here - we would’ve preferred they redid memorial drive properly as a 8,000-10,000 seat multipurpose arena. Surely could’ve been done much more cheaply than the $600m earmarked for the riverbank arena too.

It could have, there was a vision for $200-250 million.
They've spent $60 million, including the roof...ridiculous.
And Libs wanted to spend another $600-700 million on a new stadium a stones throw over the river.

So whats to stop them spending that extra $200 million from that proposal-IF it was feasible, and completing or improving what has been started? Cant keep complaining about what the libs did or didn't do-when Labor have advanced no plans for this precinct. Agree this area really is a poor compromise. But everyone fell for the "waste leading to ambulance ramping", so they got what they voted for. -It was very evident, at the last election, Labor were only focused on ambulance ramping and the health system-not arenas. No point complaining about crappy entertainment venues now.

[rev]

It’s been said here before, but the “carry on” was reasonable considering the riverbank arena was only financially viable if international conferences returned post-Covid - which is a huge IF.

Again, as many have already said here - we would’ve preferred they redid memorial drive properly as a 8,000-10,000 seat multipurpose arena. Surely could’ve been done much more cheaply than the $600m earmarked for the riverbank arena too.

It could have, there was a vision for $200-250 million.
They've spent $60 million, including the roof...ridiculous.
And Libs wanted to spend another $600-700 million on a new stadium a stones throw over the river.

So whats to stop them spending that extra $200 million from that proposal-IF it was feasible, and completing or improving what has been started? Cant keep complaining about what the libs did or didn't do-when Labor have advanced no plans for this precinct. Agree this area really is a poor compromise. But everyone fell for the "waste leading to ambulance ramping", so they got what they voted for. -It was very evident, at the last election, Labor were only focused on ambulance ramping and the health system-not arenas. No point complaining about crappy entertainment venues now.

Whose complaining?
I just pointed out that there was a vision, not a proposal, for a redeveloped Memorial Drive in the 200-250 million range.
The Libs could have spent that extra ~200 million and fully redeveloped it instead of the country town upgrades they've spent $60 million on (which still aren't finished which is laughable how long it's taking), and directed the rest of that 600-700 million they had earmarked for the new arena towards health. They would have probably won the last election as a result.

Labor pointed out what a waste it would be to spend that much money on one arena when our health care system is in crisis. We were still in the pandemic, and Labor played their cards right, the Liberals did not (surprise surprise).

And I don't think we need a stadium where the Libs proposed one. That's where the Convention Centre should have been moved to, with the casino/train station building refurbished into a boutique hotel and/or museum, with a new casino & entertainment complex built where the Interncontinental/current convention centre/riverside building are.
I think Memorial Drive should have been demolished and redeveloped as shown in that vision earlier in the thread, however with that section of Memorial Drive removed and the tennis stadium moved closer to the riverbank to create a plaza between the riverbank and stadiums. And I think a new rectangular stadium should be built just east of Adelaide Oval.

Of course we're not going to get any sort of cohesive plans let alone visions from our leaders, when they're trying to jam more office towers in a public plaza.

[A-Town]

It’s been said here before, but the “carry on” was reasonable considering the riverbank arena was only financially viable if international conferences returned post-Covid - which is a huge IF.

Again, as many have already said here - we would’ve preferred they redid memorial drive properly as a 8,000-10,000 seat multipurpose arena. Surely could’ve been done much more cheaply than the $600m earmarked for the riverbank arena too.

It could have, there was a vision for $200-250 million.
They've spent $60 million, including the roof...ridiculous.
And Libs wanted to spend another $600-700 million on a new stadium a stones throw over the river.

So whats to stop them spending that extra $200 million from that proposal-IF it was feasible, and completing or improving what has been started? Cant keep complaining about what the libs did or didn't do-when Labor have advanced no plans for this precinct. Agree this area really is a poor compromise. But everyone fell for the "waste leading to ambulance ramping", so they got what they voted for. -It was very evident, at the last election, Labor were only focused on ambulance ramping and the health system-not arenas. No point complaining about crappy entertainment venues now.

Yep, and unfortunately we're stuck with an ageing Entertainment Centre for at least the next decade now you'd think as neither party will dare to mention building a brand new arena for a while.

We had a chance to develop a world-class brand new Entertainment Centre in the heart of the city and to revive an underwhelming and relatively underdeveloped part of the CBD, but we gave into the fear perpetuated by militant unions and the Labor Party.

[gnrc_louis]

It could have, there was a vision for $200-250 million.
They've spent $60 million, including the roof...ridiculous.
And Libs wanted to spend another $600-700 million on a new stadium a stones throw over the river.

So whats to stop them spending that extra $200 million from that proposal-IF it was feasible, and completing or improving what has been started? Cant keep complaining about what the libs did or didn't do-when Labor have advanced no plans for this precinct. Agree this area really is a poor compromise. But everyone fell for the "waste leading to ambulance ramping", so they got what they voted for. -It was very evident, at the last election, Labor were only focused on ambulance ramping and the health system-not arenas. No point complaining about crappy entertainment venues now.

Yep, and unfortunately we're stuck with an ageing Entertainment Centre for at least the next decade now you'd think as neither party will dare to mention building a brand new arena for a while.

We had a chance to develop a world-class brand new Entertainment Centre in the heart of the city and to revive an underwhelming and relatively underdeveloped part of the CBD, but we gave into the fear perpetuated by militant unions and the Labor Party.

Oh come on - a 600m entertainment centre reliant on international conferences to break even was an inherently flawed concept and for that reason "we" (I presume you mean the people of SA) saved "ourselves" a great deal of money on what was a poorly considered proposal. In our federation, State governments have finite resources and have fairly set annual funding from the Feds - spending 600m on a the Riverbank proposal was not a good use of these finite resources.

And to reiterate AGAIN, the real shame is that memorial drive instead wasn't redeveloped properly and we're now left with this half assed stadium that is neither here nor there.

[A-Town]

So whats to stop them spending that extra $200 million from that proposal-IF it was feasible, and completing or improving what has been started? Cant keep complaining about what the libs did or didn't do-when Labor have advanced no plans for this precinct. Agree this area really is a poor compromise. But everyone fell for the "waste leading to ambulance ramping", so they got what they voted for. -It was very evident, at the last election, Labor were only focused on ambulance ramping and the health system-not arenas. No point complaining about crappy entertainment venues now.

Yep, and unfortunately we're stuck with an ageing Entertainment Centre for at least the next decade now you'd think as neither party will dare to mention building a brand new arena for a while.

We had a chance to develop a world-class brand new Entertainment Centre in the heart of the city and to revive an underwhelming and relatively underdeveloped part of the CBD, but we gave into the fear perpetuated by militant unions and the Labor Party.

Oh come on - a 600m entertainment centre reliant on international conferences to break even was an inherently flawed concept and for that reason "we" (I presume you mean the people of SA) saved "ourselves" a great deal of money on what was a poorly considered proposal. In our federation, State governments have finite resources and have fairly set annual funding from the Feds - spending 600m on a the Riverbank proposal was not a good use of these finite resources.

And to reiterate AGAIN, the real shame is that memorial drive instead wasn't redeveloped properly and we're now left with this half assed stadium that is neither here nor there.

Adelaide sorely lacks world-class facilities. The new Perth Arena was about $550m, similar to what the new Entertainment Centre would have cost when taking inflation into account. Perth Arena regularly holds and sells out sporting events and concerts there, while we continue to see artists avoid Adelaide.

The rebuild of Adelaide Oval was met with backlash from those hell-bent on spending public money on nothing but health and education. Most (not all) shut up quickly once they realised the benefits that a redeveloped venue in the heart of the city would have on the CBD and state's economy. Adelaideans are just terrified of bold plans and progress, and as a result, we're left with the worst of both worlds with an ageing Entertainment Centre and a barely half-complete Memorial Drive.

[Patrick_27]

Acts bypassing Adelaide has nothing to do with its facilities but rather the buying habits of Adelaide punters. Generally speaking, punters here are notorious for waiting until last minute to buy tickets to shows. With Perth, they have a population roughly 500,000 greater than ours and shows there service the entire west coast. If we miss out on a tour, we go to Melbourne; cheaper and less risk for the promoter.

[rev]

Acts bypassing Adelaide has nothing to do with its facilities but rather the buying habits of Adelaide punters. Generally speaking, punters here are notorious for waiting until last minute to buy tickets to shows. With Perth, they have a population roughly 500,000 greater than ours and shows there service the entire west coast. If we miss out on a tour, we go to Melbourne; cheaper and less risk for the promoter.

Exactly. How many times do promoters have to spell it out before South Australians take notice.

If only it was as simple as "build it and they will come"...factor in South Australians..

[ChillyPhilly]

Acts bypassing Adelaide has nothing to do with its facilities but rather the buying habits of Adelaide punters. Generally speaking, punters here are notorious for waiting until last minute to buy tickets to shows. With Perth, they have a population roughly 500,000 greater than ours and shows there service the entire west coast. If we miss out on a tour, we go to Melbourne; cheaper and less risk for the promoter.

While the above is a true behaviour, it's actually logistics thanks to Australia's geography/population distribution. Tours are expensive to run, even on days of no performances: tours by bigger acts with more equipment etc. cost more to operate. For example, the U2360 Tour cost about $750,000 to run per day and this was back in 2009-2011. Hire of vehicles, truck drivers, caterers, general riggers and labourers all need to be paid and be available on days off. The tour involved three stages that travelled as per the tour schedule, leapfrogging each other. In Australia, geography makes it more tricky because of the distance between countries and the pack/set up times, and it's not always profitable or feasible to do all five major cities for this reason. Keep in mind that all major acts involve travel from many thousands of k's away as well.

It has little to do with available venues or the general perception that 'artists skip Adelaide'. Brisbane and Perth have their share of being skipped as well, and generally the only guarantees are Melbourne and Sydney.

[cmet]

Have to say the venue/set up looks pretty average on the TV coverage

[rev]

Have to say the venue/set up looks pretty average on the TV coverage

It's the sort of upgrade that would happen to a third or fourth court, not the main court.

[abc]

Have to say the venue/set up looks pretty average on the TV coverage

It's the sort of upgrade that would happen to a third or fourth court, not the main court.

its not a grand slam or masters series venue

[Cryptic]

Have to say the venue/set up looks pretty average on the TV coverage

It's the sort of upgrade that would happen to a third or fourth court, not the main court.

its not a grand slam or masters series venue

Yeah exactly, I would say it's a pretty good venue for an ATP 250 event and it has great facilities. Also nice to have a stadium with a bit more character than the generic concrete rectangles in other cities.

[followthefish]

I’d actually like to see a proper western stand built, like the eastern one. Could even join it with a new Next Gen building which could house Tennis SA HQ.

[SRJ]

Have to say the venue/set up looks pretty average on the TV coverage

You sound like a true lefty. Sorry but we are always winging about something and how labor could do it better. Well they have been in power long enough and haven’t touched memorial drive. I don’t mean to sounds mean but I think the redevelopment is fine. The reason why we don’t have a proper stand on the west side is because the venue is going to be used for concerts. The stage will go up against the wall and the crowd will stand where the hospitality stand is currently. We are never going to get a rod lover arena set up here so let’s just enjoy what we got and stop winging. Not surprised the rest of the country looks at us as a backwater and no bands come here.