Pirtek Stadium renovation on hold as Eels and Wanderers debate how the money should be spent
Josh Massoud
The Daily Telegraph
April 18, 2014 12:00AM
PIRTEK Stadiums $29 million facelift has been sent back to the drawing board following a dispute with the NRL and FFA over how the funds should be spent.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal a board meeting of Venues NSW on Tuesday resolved to freeze all development plans indefinitely.
As a result, plans to upgrade corporate facilities in the eastern grandstand from August have been temporarily aborted.
The Western Sydney Wanderers had staunchly opposed that leg of the *redevelopment because it would have slashed the venues *capacity by 3000 seats for next summers A-League.
With more than 15,000 season ticket-holders, the Wanderers are already struggling to accommodate fans.
The remainder of the money was to be spent on 1500 additional seats at the northern end and new dressing rooms under the western grandstand.
While both the Wanderers and other major tenant, the Parramatta Eels, want new facilities for players, both clubs have been petitioning for alternative improvements.
The Eels want the 70m pitch behind the southern stand to be extended to a full-length field, which would enable them to hold all training sessions inside the precinct. Parramatta have been nomadic over the past two years, switching their drills between nearby Richie Benaud Oval, Granville and the stadium itself.
Eels boss Scott Seward wants the leftover money to be saved for a major redevelopment that would increase capacity to 32,000. Venues NSW believes a project of that magnitude would cost in excess of $100 million and possibly leave both clubs homeless for at least a year.
Both the Wanderers and Parramatta agree that we need to look at the scope of works, Seward said. Weve had numerous discussions with Venues NSW about that, and theyve increased in the past six weeks.
We want to call Pirtek Stadium home for many years, but we also want to dramatically increase our membership. We dont see the point of spending the money on an upgrade that will barely increase the capacity.
As for the training field, that was something we were promised when we signed our new lease with the stadium (in 2012).
A source close to Venues NSW said the authority had decided to take stock after realising the tenants werent going to be happy.
Its understood Venues NSW still wants to push ahead with additional seats on the northern stand, as those works will not disrupt current operations.
A spokesman for the NSW Sports Minister confirmed renewed talks would now commence with the Eels and Wanderers.
It is important that the upgrade plans suit the needs of the teams who regularly hire the stadium, the spokesman said. It is equally important that the venue secures long-term commitments from those teams.
There are ongoing discussions between Venues NSW, the Parramatta Eels, the NRL and the Western Sydney Wanderers to ensure these objectives are met.
