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» AUSTADIUMS.COM NEWS / Saturday 27th January 2007 Stadium battle looms large
Construction of Melbourne's $190 million stadium for rugby league and soccer is being delayed by a dispute between the State Government and Melbourne Victory soccer club.
The Government wants to push ahead with its planned 20,000-seat rectangular stadium.
NRL team Melbourne Storm and the A-League's Victory would be major tenants at Edwin Flack Field, on the Olympic Park site. AFL and rugby union could also have a place there.
But Victory, which publicly supported the original proposal, is now holding out for a larger stadium.
Victory officials say the club routinely pulls in crowds of up to 30,000 and the stadium would be too small.
Frustrated negotiators within the Major Projects departments have been unable to broker a compromise and now concede they will not have the stadium ready by the end of next year. Senior government MPs are now considering a compromise of a 27,500-seat stadium, jointly funded by the Government and Melbourne Olympic Park Trust.
The plan, released by the Government before November's election, could be adapted to hold 27,500 without a major cost blowout.
But Victory says the revised plan is still too small, despite pressure from soccer's peak body, Football Federation Australia, for the dispute to be resolved.
The 20,000-seat stadium, incorporating a radical bubble design, was approved by Cabinet last year and was expected to be under way before the Government went into caretaker mode ahead of the election.
But Victory's change of heart has thrown the project into such disarray that no formal revised plan has been taken to Cabinet since the election despite tenders due to be let in March.
Storm chief executive Brian Waldron, who supports the Government's original plans, said he was confident the stadium would go ahead soon.
"It needs to be financially viable, and a capacity to include up to 27,500 without a major impact on the cost would be a fantastic size," Mr Waldron said.
"Anything above that is what Telstra Dome is for. There is no point in having two large multi-purpose stadiums side by side."
Mr Waldron said Storm, the NRL and the ARL had made huge financial commitments in setting up a league side in Melbourne and bringing a State of Origin game to town, providing a $70 million boost to the economy.
The Government is trying to estimate if Victory will keep drawing big crowds, or whether the support is part of a honeymoon period for soccer after last year's World Cup.
Victory is continuing talks with Telstra Dome which can seat 50,000 but is less suitable for soccer because it is round and the stands would be further away from the smaller soccer pitch.
Victory's only comment to the Herald Sun was that negotiations with the Olympic Park Trust were continuing.
Major Projects Minister Theo Theophanous said a decision was due to be made shortly, but he would not say when.
Ellen Whinnett
Herald Sun
-----------------
I really feel for you guys on this one. There have been elements of the Victorian government looking to kill this stadium from the start, and it looks like the Melbourne Victory are giving them the ammunition they need to do it. Their short sightedness-mainly in their belief that they'll actually be able to sustain a 30,000+ home crows average-could well screw you both over.
Construction of Melbourne's $190 million stadium for rugby league and soccer is being delayed by a dispute between the State Government and Melbourne Victory soccer club.
The Government wants to push ahead with its planned 20,000-seat rectangular stadium.
NRL team Melbourne Storm and the A-League's Victory would be major tenants at Edwin Flack Field, on the Olympic Park site. AFL and rugby union could also have a place there.
But Victory, which publicly supported the original proposal, is now holding out for a larger stadium.
Victory officials say the club routinely pulls in crowds of up to 30,000 and the stadium would be too small.
Frustrated negotiators within the Major Projects departments have been unable to broker a compromise and now concede they will not have the stadium ready by the end of next year. Senior government MPs are now considering a compromise of a 27,500-seat stadium, jointly funded by the Government and Melbourne Olympic Park Trust.
The plan, released by the Government before November's election, could be adapted to hold 27,500 without a major cost blowout.
But Victory says the revised plan is still too small, despite pressure from soccer's peak body, Football Federation Australia, for the dispute to be resolved.
The 20,000-seat stadium, incorporating a radical bubble design, was approved by Cabinet last year and was expected to be under way before the Government went into caretaker mode ahead of the election.
But Victory's change of heart has thrown the project into such disarray that no formal revised plan has been taken to Cabinet since the election despite tenders due to be let in March.
Storm chief executive Brian Waldron, who supports the Government's original plans, said he was confident the stadium would go ahead soon.
"It needs to be financially viable, and a capacity to include up to 27,500 without a major impact on the cost would be a fantastic size," Mr Waldron said.
"Anything above that is what Telstra Dome is for. There is no point in having two large multi-purpose stadiums side by side."
Mr Waldron said Storm, the NRL and the ARL had made huge financial commitments in setting up a league side in Melbourne and bringing a State of Origin game to town, providing a $70 million boost to the economy.
The Government is trying to estimate if Victory will keep drawing big crowds, or whether the support is part of a honeymoon period for soccer after last year's World Cup.
Victory is continuing talks with Telstra Dome which can seat 50,000 but is less suitable for soccer because it is round and the stands would be further away from the smaller soccer pitch.
Victory's only comment to the Herald Sun was that negotiations with the Olympic Park Trust were continuing.
Major Projects Minister Theo Theophanous said a decision was due to be made shortly, but he would not say when.
Ellen Whinnett
Herald Sun
-----------------
I really feel for you guys on this one. There have been elements of the Victorian government looking to kill this stadium from the start, and it looks like the Melbourne Victory are giving them the ammunition they need to do it. Their short sightedness-mainly in their belief that they'll actually be able to sustain a 30,000+ home crows average-could well screw you both over.
