Stadium of Canterbury
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I would have thought that 25K would be perfect for a city of CHCH's size? Small enough to maintain a great atmosphere for Super Rugby or Mitre 10 Cup games, but bigger than the temporary stadium that is currently been used. Brisbane has nearly 2 million people, and its major stadium holds only 52,000.
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@KiwiMurph said in Stadium of Canterbury:
Gold Coast has more population than Chrischurch and both their stadiums (AFL and NRL) are only in the mid 20k range.
Toronto has population 6-7 million and they've abandoned the cavernous retracable roof stadium for football and soccer and gone to an outdoor stadium that is 25K and can be expanded to 40K. It's where Canada's mens national rugby team plays most of their test matches the past several years (though ABs get them in Vancouver this Nov. I suspect another test years hence might be held at BMO in Toronto.). It's ideal. If it's good enough for a city the size of TO where the weather can get ferocious it could than likely do the same trick for Christchurch and it didn't cost them much to construct -- built ten years ago for NZD$69-million, at todays' adjusted cost for inflation $120-million.
For the money ChCh is looking at they could build four of them.
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@Salacious-Crumb said in Stadium of Canterbury:
For the money ChCh is looking at they could build four of them.
Or the Cake Tin. Cost $130M in 1999. Capacity of 35,000. Not covered though... but do you have to be? Maybe night rugby makes that play, but an extra $350M for a covered stadium is serious serious cash. And all the OPEX with keeping grass alive with shade... something Dunedin innovated heavily on.
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built ten years ago for NZD$69-million, at todays' adjusted cost for inflation $120-million.
Not sure on those sums. According to that wiki link it cost more like $220 million NZD (the original build + the renovations).
Sounds like from those articles a roof is a non-negotiable.
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@Salacious-Crumb said in Stadium of Canterbury:
a city the size of TO where the weather can get ferocious...
Reading to the bottom of that wikipage i had to chuckle:
The largest attendance for any event at the stadium was recorded on January 1, 2017, when the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL Centennial Classic in front of 40,148 people
I checked weather database it was -2 degrees C a mild balmy winters' afternoon at the lake.
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@KiwiMurph said in Stadium of Canterbury:
Sounds like from those articles a roof is a non-negotiable.
From the report:
The sentiment and support for a roof was so strong that many commentators and consultees believe that if the MUA is not covered, the city should not commit to the facility. Concert promoters and sports interests reflected the same views, and all referenced the success of Forsyth Barr Stadium. Without the roof, the MUA simply couldn’t be a competitive, attractive or successful venue. It would be a provincial stadium
A roof is definitely preferable, but I think they are overstating how essential it is. But a good part of this is provincial dick waving.. so now that Dunedin has a stadium with a roof they were never going to consider a regular open stadium
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@KiwiMurph said in Stadium of Canterbury:
Sounds like from those articles a roof is a non-negotiable.
Toronto learned lesson of Montreal Alouettes football team, that almost collapsed. Montreal has population of over 4-million, they don't want to watch sports in a roofed Olympic Stadium, they want to watch it outdoors in smaller more intimate venues.
"The revived Alouettes franchise played their first two seasons at Olympic Stadium, but attendance in the cavernous domed stadium was very poor at first. The future of the franchise was very much in doubt until a twist of fate revitalized the floundering club. When a scheduled November 1997 U2 concert at Olympic Stadium conflicted with an unexpected home playoff game against the Lions the team decided to move the game to Molson Stadium, where they had played from 1954 to 1967. Interest in the team soared and the game was sold out, prompting the team to relocate permanently to the smaller venue beginning with the 1998 season. At the time of the Alouettes' return to Molson, the stadium's capacity was 20,202; an expansion completed prior to the 2010 season brought the current capacity to 25,012. Prior to every Sunday home game, the club plays "Sunday Bloody Sunday" over the PA system in tribute to the unintended role U2 played in saving the franchise. The team did not completely abandon Olympic Stadium – from 2001 to 2009 the Alouettes hosted one regular-season per year, as well as any home playoff games, at the much larger stadium. Since the expansion of Molson Stadium, the team now only uses the "Big O" for playoff games."
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@Salacious-Crumb said in Stadium of Canterbury:
Toronto has population 6-7 million and they've abandoned the cavernous retracable roof stadium for football and soccer and gone to an outdoor stadium that is 25K and can be expanded to 40K
Given their temperatures in winter, I guess it's not used then.
A 25-30000 capacity makes sense. A multi-use/ purpose stadium makes sense to increase revenue. A covered stadium given Christchurch's weather also makes sense.
Make the funding an election issue.
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@antipodean said in Stadium of Canterbury:
Given their temperatures in winter, I guess it's not used then.
Not regularly according to wiki page but last winter had the Leafs vs Red Wings hockey (as above) at 40K in January minus-2 degrees in afternoon and a few weeks earlier in December hosted MLS Final -5 degrees C at night Brrrrrrrr 36K pass the whisky flask.
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Assuming we want serious concerts and the like (as a ratepayer, I do) as well as sporting fixtures, it needs to be a decent size and have a roof and retractable grass. I think we should do 30000 rather then 25000, but options for temporary seating might be an option. I am more than happy to pay some extra rates to make it work.
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@Godder said in Stadium of Canterbury:
Assuming we want serious concerts and the like (as a ratepayer, I do) as well as sporting fixtures, it needs to be a decent size and have a roof and retractable grass. I think we should do 30000 rather then 25000, but options for temporary seating might be an option. I am more than happy to pay some extra rates to make it work.
Why retractable grass?
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@Cantab79 said in Stadium of Canterbury:
I would have thought that 25K would be perfect for a city of CHCH's size? Small enough to maintain a great atmosphere for Super Rugby or Mitre 10 Cup games, but bigger than the temporary stadium that is currently been used. Brisbane has nearly 2 million people, and its major stadium holds only 52,000.
Yeah - I suspect the size is probably about right. Probably three or four times a decade it's going to be a bit too small - and maybe if we have another RWC and when the Lions tour (in 12 years) it will mean missing out on the really big tests, but you can't be spending an extra several hundred million to get one game a decade.
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@Rapido said in Stadium of Canterbury:
@Godder said in Stadium of Canterbury:
Assuming we want serious concerts and the like (as a ratepayer, I do) as well as sporting fixtures, it needs to be a decent size and have a roof and retractable grass. I think we should do 30000 rather then 25000, but options for temporary seating might be an option. I am more than happy to pay some extra rates to make it work.
Why retractable grass?
Because grass tends to be ruined when hordes of people enjoy themselves at concerts. Also grows better if you don't have a roof that doesn't let in much light.
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@antipodean said in Stadium of Canterbury:
@Rapido said in Stadium of Canterbury:
@Godder said in Stadium of Canterbury:
Assuming we want serious concerts and the like (as a ratepayer, I do) as well as sporting fixtures, it needs to be a decent size and have a roof and retractable grass. I think we should do 30000 rather then 25000, but options for temporary seating might be an option. I am more than happy to pay some extra rates to make it work.
Why retractable grass?
Because grass tends to be ruined when hordes of people enjoy themselves at concerts. Also grows better if you don't have a roof that doesn't let in much light.
None of which applies if you go down the Dunedin route.
The grass grows because of the plastic roof they use.
The grass doesn't get munted by hordes of people at concerts because the ground is perfectly dry and the grass in perfect condition.
This retractable shit is 20 years behind the times now. It's like choosing an 80s/90s Lamborghini when a Mazda MX5 does it for a 1/4 of the outlay and a 1/4 of the annual running costs.
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Prime Minister in Christchurch on the Campaign trail
Good morning. You may not know it if you live in the North Island, but there's a plan for a new Christchurch stadium that's causing plenty of consternation, and may result in over of a $100m of taxpayer cash being airlifted in. The stadium is an "anchor" rebuild project, meaning in principle central and local government have already agreed to fund it together. Yet there's been a bit of drama over where the money is coming from. Christchurch City Council has already promised $253m to contribute to the project, and say they won't ask ratepayers for a cent more, while the Government has already purchased the land, and made sounds that indicate they think that's contribution enough. Yesterday the business cases for various designs of the stadium were released, including a "recommended option" that would cost $496m and feature a retractable field and steel roof. Stuff now understands that the Prime Minister will be announcing today that his Government would contribute a significant amount of that shortfall, possibly the lot. He's in Christchurch for the day and will be speaking with Christchurch Regeneration Minister Nicky Wagner. A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said she could neither confirm or deny this. "We won't be making the announcement before the announcement," she said.The sort of election bribe I can handle.
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@Rapido said in Stadium of Canterbury:
The grass doesn't get munted by hordes of people at concerts because the ground is perfectly dry and the grass in perfect condition.
WTF are you talking about? I've seen perfectly dry grass ruined by hordes of people walking on it.
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@antipodean said in Stadium of Canterbury:
@Rapido said in Stadium of Canterbury:
The grass doesn't get munted by hordes of people at concerts because the ground is perfectly dry and the grass in perfect condition.
WTF are you talking about? I've seen perfectly dry grass ruined by hordes of people walking on it.
Where? And in what conditions?
I've also seen wet grass not ruined by hordes of people walking on it (GnR at cake tin etc).
A retractable pitch is an expensive solution to a non-existent problem.
The reason natural grass struggles to grow in some of the stadiums with retractable roofs is because of the lack of natural light. This isn't a problem in a 30-35k stadium using the Dunedin polymer method.
BMO Field - Wikipedia
