Stadium of Canterbury
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@hooroo said in Stadium of Canterbury:
I can't back any of this up but just a story I heard when down there over the weekend.
A guy that has the demo contract (I think) who is in the racing industry (hence how I was told) said the council already have the land and it is near where Lancaster Park already is and in a zone with no parking. It seems that the place selected is in a hopeless Zone for access etc.
I was told the area but it didn';t stick with me.
I hope this isn't a wasted opportunity by the council as if done right the stadium can be a centre hub for a shopping precinct and restaurants etc. It needs parking for that to happen though
Unless something's changed recently, it's pegged to be on the old Turners and Growers site - in a piece of foresight unusual in city councils, Christchurch City Council picked it up in 2002 for central city revitalisation and conveniently still had it when the earthquakes hit.
It is reasonably close to Lancaster Park - for anyone who wants to have a look on Google Maps, it's the block bounded by Madras and Barbadoes Streets, and Lichfield and Tuam Streets, so is on the eastern side of the CBD, but is definitely actually in the Christchurch CBD. Don't know why people think there is no parking - here's the Council parking webpage. There are three parking buildings on Lichfield Street, one 2 minutes walk away, one about 5-10 and one about 10-15 minutes. The bus interchange (fka bus exchange) is also on Lichfield Street at the Colombo corner (it runs through to Tuam Street), so is also about 5-10 minutes walk. Pretty much ideal location IMO.
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So here are a few of the things about the game day experience at the temporary dump which those who haven't had the 'pleasure' of attending may or may not be aware of, and which lend weight to expediting the new stadium (whatever it may be). You'll know it's small, it's made of scaffolding, it's temporary, it's outstayed it's welcome and it's very exposed. Also:
It has one relatively small replay screen.
Stand posts obscure the view of the field - moreso the closer you are to a corner of the stand which means you have more posts in your line of sight - and the replay screen.
The scaffold decking itself is perforated meaning it's not a smooth surface. Good luck putting your drink down and it stil being there, full, five minutes later.
The scaffold is also noisy.
The seating is horrendously close together, both side to side and front to back. This means for anyone over about 80kg and/or 1.8m it's a squeeze. This can influence what you wear and who you take, due to drastic lack of space.
The food selection is simply crap.
With just two concession stations on opposite corners of the ground, it can be a hike and a wait to get food and drinks.
The walk to the stadium which most people use is dark, grassy (muddy) and there is also lots of loose gravel. Not great for the ladies - or stylish blokes - with nice shoes. Also a H&S issue due to kerbing etc.
Parking is limited, and traffic flow around the stadium is terrible.Can anyone add anything?
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The prevailing easterly wind goes straight into the SW stand - bloody cold - and when there’s southerly rain the front rows of the other stand get soaked and freezing. I bought an Antarctic grade down jacket this year as I am sick of being cold.
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@wally said in Stadium of Canterbury:
I bought an Antarctic grade down jacket this year as I am sick of being cold.
I thought those were standard issue in places where it snows down onto the beach?
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Looks like a plan., from FCM Jamie Gough.
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@shark said in Stadium of Canterbury:
Brilliant. I can tell you what we're NOT going to get for $500m with approx 30,000 seats and that's anything that's remotely 'architectural' ie pleasing to the eye. We'll get a functional MUA with MAYBE just enough seats.
The numbers just don't stack up for stadia, ever.
$500M for 30k seats is $17k PER SEAT. You are not going to return any sort of sensible return on that, the business cases are basically 'we like sports, and would like a stadium please'.
Remember - Westpac cost $130M in the late 90's, at around 4k/seat. Far more manageable.
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Would it be cheaper and a bit more retro cool if if it was made entirely from Lego blocks?
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This is an unpopular opinion but I'm starting to lean toward a 40,000 seat uncovered stadium with 'street appeal', given the budget. I think the media beat-up around three Ed Sheeran gigs in Dunedin has had far too much sway. I think the good folk of Chch - after 10 or so years attending games at the craphole in Addington - would flock to a flash 40,000 seater without a roof, as long as the stand roofing extended a decent way forward. This gives us an arena capable of hosting Tier 1 tests and other sports and international tournaments and nationally it'd be a capable lieutenant to Eden Park or any new National Stadium. It'd also be future-proofed in terms of population growth (forecast to get up to 500k well within a new venues' lifespan).
I can envisage a very real scenario whereby we get basically another FBS ie around 30,000 seats at full capacity with no visual appeal whatsoever. Then after a few years the over-riding complaint would be that it's too small and also a visual blight nestled among an otherwise attractive central city. It's ability to host the occasional concert would be overshadowed by missing out on sporting events due to capacity issues and people will ask "why didn't we have the foresight to build something bigger and/or prettier?"
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@shark while a roof would add hugely to cost it seems (as a out of towner) as a must have imo. If we had a roof at the cake tin there would def be a higher base audience, even the Phoenix might see another couple of hundred folks attend!
I wonder how far they can take weather protection without a full roof? If 3/4s of your crowd has decent cover that'd make a massive difference, but would that be much cheaper than a full roof?
I hope you guys get something awesome though. Just make sure its fog proof please 😁 -
@paekakboyz said in Stadium of Canterbury:
@shark while a roof would add hugely to cost it seems (as a out of towner) as a must have imo. If we had a roof at the cake tin there would def be a higher base audience, even the Phoenix might see another couple of hundred folks attend!
I wonder how far they can take weather protection without a full roof? If 3/4s of your crowd has decent cover that'd make a massive difference, but would that be much cheaper than a full roof?
I hope you guys get something awesome though. Just make sure its fog proof please 😁Do you really wanna see your team lose that bad?!
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Something with the roof cover of Wembley would do.
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Or Twickers
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@shark I saw nothing!! Similar the to the canes 😁😁
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@paekakboyz said in Stadium of Canterbury:
@shark I saw nothing!! Similar the to the canes 😁😁
I left the ground and went to a pub, hoping it’d be better on tv. It wasn’t!
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