Redevelopment of EAS..

[Coastbloke]

Do you support the redevelopment of the EAS to a all seater 40-45,000 seat stadium of International Standard....??

Remo Nogaretto - the architect of the NSW Liberals humiliation in 1999 - wants a co-operative effort between the Knights and the local soccer team to lobby the NSW Govt for such a stadium....

I suppose with the Knights as the senior partner, it's a good idea.

Do you think it will enhance or reduce atmosphere....??

If they are going to do it, the best time would be the day after the England vs NZ Rugby League World Cup match in November of this year....

 

[Frederick]

Fully support it. Not only will it mean more fans at Knights/Jets games, also means we'll get more major events brought to our town.

 

[Jobdog]

Fully support it. Not only will it mean more fans at Knights/Jets games, also means we'll get more major events brought to our town.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

I can't think of a reason why you wouldn't want this. A 45,000 seater (only 7,500 smaller than Suncorp!) would be huge for a place like Newie. Home semifinals, tests, etc.

 

[Misanthrope]

Only an idiot (where is lockyno1, anyway?) would argue against progress that in no way damages what is already in place. We'd be able to accomodate more fans in boom years for the Knights/Jets, could host international sporting events such as the AFC/Socceroo games/rugby league tests, and it would only benefit the Australian cause in bidding for future football events.

 

[Shazbut]

Well I guess Im an idiot then. Dont get me wrong I love more & better seating, but I also love the hill. Other grounds have them but not with the same atmosphere as here. It really does have a great feel sitting in the sun on a picnic blanket enjoying a game of footy. Redo the Western Stand. There would be nothing worse than turning up at EAS surrounded by a sea of empty seats as at Telstra & Aussie. Although knights supporters do support, unlike the two fair weather clubs based at those two grounds.

 

[Frederick]

Well I guess Im an idiot then. Dont get me wrong I love more & better seating, but I also love the hill. Other grounds have them but not with the same atmosphere as here. It really does have a great feel sitting in the sun on a picnic blanket enjoying a game of footy. Redo the Western Stand. There would be nothing worse than turning up at EAS surrounded by a sea of empty seats as at Telstra & Aussie. Although knights supporters do support, unlike the two fair weather clubs based at those two grounds.

That's all well and good, but fact is we're going to be constantly overlooked for major events if we have grass on two ends of the stadium

 

[macavity]

Well I guess Im an idiot then. Dont get me wrong I love more & better seating, but I also love the hill. Other grounds have them but not with the same atmosphere as here. It really does have a great feel sitting in the sun on a picnic blanket enjoying a game of footy. Redo the Western Stand. There would be nothing worse than turning up at EAS surrounded by a sea of empty seats as at Telstra & Aussie. Although knights supporters do support, unlike the two fair weather clubs based at those two grounds.

while I agree to a degree, fred hit the nail on the head.

in an ideal world both ends would be ala Dairy Farmers - stands above a shortened hill. but that doesnt cut it these days...

 

[Misanthrope]

I too am a big fan of the hill, and was bummed when the Crusade opted to move to the stands. The view is better, but I agree that you really can't match the atmosphere of watching a game from the hill.

But if Newcastle wants to be able to host major sporting events and have its teams play out of a decent stadium - the hill may have to go.

 

[KniGhTs BaTTLeR]

Love the hills, would rather sit on a hill and watch then a grandstand but it's no use fighting it. There are too many positives to redevelop EAS.

 

[roopy]

I don't think we can justify more than a 30k seat stadium.
If 10k extra seats cost 10 mill say, how can we ask for that if the seats will only be filled once a year maybe?

One thing we should look at for the new grandstand is a lot more corporate seating. We sell all the expensive seats easy, and charging fatcats hundreds is good for our bottom line.

 

[Nuke]

When I was in Newcastle in mid-December, they were doing something to the southern side of the old Western grandstand. It looked like they were looking to extend it. Is that what they're doing at the moment?

Forgive my ignorance, but I live far far away ...!

 

[Frederick]

That's where the new changerooms are going. They're placing an all seated concource area on top of it, which will eventually join up to the new Western Stand when it gets redeveloped

 

[Nuke]

Ah cool. Thanks for that. Now that you mentioned it, I do recall reading or hearing somewhere that they're getting new changerooms.

 

[Hanscholo]

The knights would do well to get into bed with Con, and get people like Andy Harper on board and to nag the living sh*t out of all lvls of governemt, and the NRL and FFA. It needs to be done. We have been waiting for this since the 1960's when a f**king whip around paid for most of the current western grandstand funding. We get little else from the government they can at least give us an entertainment venue capable of compeating with Sydney.

 

[stuke]

The knights would do well to get into bed with Con, and get people like Andy Harper on board and to nag the living sh*t out of all lvls of governemt, and the NRL and FFA. It needs to be done. We have been waiting for this since the 1960's when a f**king whip around paid for most of the current western grandstand funding. We get little else from the government they can at least give us an entertainment venue capable of compeating with Sydney.

they have been there before and I don't know if Con would be that keen anymore with the current regime. i think he would much prefer to overthrow the Knights and the board and become the main tenant so he can dictate the terms.