SpaceMonkey
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Auckland’s stadium situation is largely a legacy of the old council system when the city was run by 4 councils (Auckland, North Shore, Waitakere, Manukau) plus the regional council which basically did roads, rail and ports, so getting big stadium projects publicly funded was next to impossible as none of the councils wanted to pay for anything in other council areas and th ARC had no interest in giving up port land. The creation of the new Super City council largely fixed that but the current situation with stadiums is largely a consequence of it. The national government was prepared to chip in a substantial amount for a waterfront stadium before the 2011 RWC but it never happened largely due to all the competing interests at the time.
One issue with the waterfront stadium proposal is a lack of available space- the Port of Auckland takes up most of it and can’t be moved anywhere else due to lack of suitable options. The “partially submerged” option (it wasn’t really submerged, the proposal was essentially to reclaim an area of harbour with the pitch surface sitting below sea level, which would’ve saved a lot on earthmoving and construction costs as well as obstructing views less) was actually a pretty good answer to that,
Of the existing stadia none of them really work as a first class stadium, Mt Smart is basically just a decent suburban/regional ground parked in an industrial area 10km from the CBD, Eden Park is more central but too compromised by needing to accomodate cricket and is in the middle of a residential neighbourhood, and North Shore/QBE stadium is stuck way up at the northern end of the city and only really has one good stand.
Carlaw would’ve been a near ideal location but that ship sailed a decade or so back when the ARL sold it off unfortunately (would’ve needed a rebuild from scratch too, it was super run-down, made Brookvale look state of the art).
One issue with the waterfront stadium proposal is a lack of available space- the Port of Auckland takes up most of it and can’t be moved anywhere else due to lack of suitable options. The “partially submerged” option (it wasn’t really submerged, the proposal was essentially to reclaim an area of harbour with the pitch surface sitting below sea level, which would’ve saved a lot on earthmoving and construction costs as well as obstructing views less) was actually a pretty good answer to that,
Of the existing stadia none of them really work as a first class stadium, Mt Smart is basically just a decent suburban/regional ground parked in an industrial area 10km from the CBD, Eden Park is more central but too compromised by needing to accomodate cricket and is in the middle of a residential neighbourhood, and North Shore/QBE stadium is stuck way up at the northern end of the city and only really has one good stand.
Carlaw would’ve been a near ideal location but that ship sailed a decade or so back when the ARL sold it off unfortunately (would’ve needed a rebuild from scratch too, it was super run-down, made Brookvale look state of the art).
