Planned venue in Adelaide to spur growth

Article posted by Coliseum, September 21^st, 2020

Image: ftbl.com.au

Plans for a new multifunctional venue for sports and entertainment have been unveiled in the Australian City of Adelaide.

In this regard, a video for a proposed new Adelaide United stadium has been released as part of a sports and entertainment complex in Riverbank called Riverbank West.

The Riverbank West project focuses on a stadium that would fit in up to 15,000 fans in “court sports mode” for basketball and netball games, but this would be expandable to 22,000 for field sports such as football. The facility would be able to greet up to 30,000 fans for music concerts and will boast elevated-pitch design.

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It is believed that the Riverbank West development would open up floodgate of opportunities for Adelaide and South Australia with significant growth prospects. The proposed complex would include commercial space, food and beverage joints, hotels and medical consulting suites.

A full video of the proposed complex produced by Adelaide Venue Management, contends that the existing venue infrastructure in Adelaide is “unable to maintain current socio-economic benefits” to create new growth opportunities in South Australia.

The video also claims the venue could be used for Adelaide’s National Basketball League (NBL) and Super Netball franchises as well as provide luxury tourism options, with multiple hotels and medical facilities built into the complex.

“While it is a popular stadium with a proud history, we are excited by the Riverbank Arena concept,” Adelaide United Chairman, Piet van der Pol, remarked.

“The football capacity provides the growth opportunities required to make AUFC financially viable,” Piet van der Pol added.

Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League under licence from Football Federation Australia.

The video points out that the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, which boasts capacity of 11,300, is of “insufficient capacity” to attract major events to the City, while the video also claims that Coopers Stadium (in Hindmarsh, Australia), home of A-League football club Adelaide United, is nearing the end of its lifespan.

The Adelaide Entertainment Centre is an indoor arena located in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is used for sporting and entertainment events. It is the principal venue for concerts, events and attractions for audiences between 1,000 and 11,300.

The video further points out that the State of South Australia requires a rectangular venue that can respond to FIFA stadium standards as well as be rugby compliant.

Coopers Stadium, which can pack in a crowd of 16,500, will be one of the host venues during Australia’s staging of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 2023.

The video also maintains that the 8,000-seat Adelaide Arena (in Beverley, South Australia) which is used for basketball and netball games is at the end of its “useful life”. A similar assessment is given for the 3,200-seat Priceline Stadium (in Keswick Terminal, Australia) which is primarily employed for netball.

Additionally, it is argued that a larger tennis venue than the present Memorial Drive Park (in North Adelaide, Australia) is the need of the hour, although the video states that a new roof structure at the facility provides a “short to mid-term fix”. While the video accepts the fact that the Adelaide Convention Centre is a “world-class facility”, nevertheless, it states that the Centre lacks exhibition space to host “major exhibitions of strategic importance to South Australia’s economy”.

The video was developed in late 2019 and presented to the State Government. The development would go on to generate 3,200 direct and 5,800 indirect jobs.

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