http://smh.com.au/news/league/in-the-midst-of-strife-they-are-in-debt-holmes-a-court-to-bail-out-leagues-club/2006/03/30/1143441276429.html
NEW Rabbitohs owner Peter Holmes a Court has put forward plans for the debt-ridden South Sydney Leagues Club that includes constructing a hall of fame and the return of matches at a redeveloped Redfern Oval to mark the centenary of the game's founding in 1908.
Having last night had his ban on entering the licensed premises lifted, Holmes a Court is willing to take over the leagues club's debts and provide a $10 million loan to renovate the property.
If his offer is accepted, the millionaire businessman envisages the ground floor becoming the Rabbitohs' club house, with a bar, restaurant, small number of poker machines, merchandise outlet and a hall of fame, and the other three floors being used for commercial operations.
With Sydney City Council prepared to construct a $19m training facility across the road from the leagues club at Redfern Oval, Holmes a Court said he expected the oldest club in the NRL to be able to celebrate the 100th year of its existence by again playing at its spiritual home ground.
"That's the dream," he said. "It will have a capacity of 8000 to 10,000 and we would want to play pre-season or exhibition matches there in the centenary year of league. We also have a vision of constructing a hall of fame and I reckon the leagues club is the logical place for it so we'll be continuing to try and get the directors of the leagues club to allow us to progress that. I've just got hold of a set of floor plans for the facility so I will now be able to put together a proposal for the remaining floors but I am prepared to take over the debt they've got - the leagues club has got a debt of about $5m - and provide a loan for the cost of the work on top of that."
With the board of the leagues club last night returning his membership badge after last week suspending him for allegedly trespassing when he took a Nine News crew on a tour of the empty office space in the building, Holmes a Court now hopes to repair the fractured relationship between the leagues club and the football club.
It's interesting that his membership badge was returned around the same time as this proposal is mooted, it smacks of a tentative smoking of the peace pipe and the prospect of progress for the Bunnies. But, with all the egos, factions and agendas out that way, it's as fragile as their team's defence.
NEW Rabbitohs owner Peter Holmes a Court has put forward plans for the debt-ridden South Sydney Leagues Club that includes constructing a hall of fame and the return of matches at a redeveloped Redfern Oval to mark the centenary of the game's founding in 1908.
Having last night had his ban on entering the licensed premises lifted, Holmes a Court is willing to take over the leagues club's debts and provide a $10 million loan to renovate the property.
If his offer is accepted, the millionaire businessman envisages the ground floor becoming the Rabbitohs' club house, with a bar, restaurant, small number of poker machines, merchandise outlet and a hall of fame, and the other three floors being used for commercial operations.
With Sydney City Council prepared to construct a $19m training facility across the road from the leagues club at Redfern Oval, Holmes a Court said he expected the oldest club in the NRL to be able to celebrate the 100th year of its existence by again playing at its spiritual home ground.
"That's the dream," he said. "It will have a capacity of 8000 to 10,000 and we would want to play pre-season or exhibition matches there in the centenary year of league. We also have a vision of constructing a hall of fame and I reckon the leagues club is the logical place for it so we'll be continuing to try and get the directors of the leagues club to allow us to progress that. I've just got hold of a set of floor plans for the facility so I will now be able to put together a proposal for the remaining floors but I am prepared to take over the debt they've got - the leagues club has got a debt of about $5m - and provide a loan for the cost of the work on top of that."
With the board of the leagues club last night returning his membership badge after last week suspending him for allegedly trespassing when he took a Nine News crew on a tour of the empty office space in the building, Holmes a Court now hopes to repair the fractured relationship between the leagues club and the football club.
It's interesting that his membership badge was returned around the same time as this proposal is mooted, it smacks of a tentative smoking of the peace pipe and the prospect of progress for the Bunnies. But, with all the egos, factions and agendas out that way, it's as fragile as their team's defence.