115 replies to this topic

[Sir Rols]

Quote

AUCKLAND, NZ, June 30 NZPA - Auckland's Eden Park is to be upgraded at a cost of $NZ320 million ($A262 million) for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Plans unveiled today for a 60,000-capacity stadium include a new main South Stand.
Also proposed is the removal of terracing for a new East Stand and extending the ASB Stand on the far touchline to replace the blue Panasonic Stand.
When the improvements are completed in 2010, Eden Park will have 38,000 covered seats. At present, 23,000 of its 47,000 seats are covered.
The stadium, which will also stage matches during the 2015 cricket World Cup, will have be enclosed on three sides.
The exception is the western end, where the existing West Stand will remain.
Another design feature is that both the new South Stand and the ASB Stand will have seating that can be retracted for cricket matches, for which the ground capacity will be 50,000.
Retracting those seats will allow the cricket block to be swivelled to a north-south alignment.
NZPA

Would love to see an artists' concept of the plan.

[Alexjc]

roltel, on Jun 30 2006, 11:11 PM, said:

Would love to see an artists' concept of the plan.

In the NZ Herald Saturday 1/7/06,

Pictures on the news tonight showed an impressive plan with fully intergrated transport plan at Kingsland station which has already been rebuilt. This will be the Stadium that will allow New Zealand to gain credibility for 2011, CWC 2015 and a possible 2018 Commonwealth Games bid in 2011.


Finally Eden Park deserves it's name!!!

[Rafa]

Eden Park locals see plan today

Friday June 30, 2006
By Bernard Orsman

Mt Eden residents' groups are optimistic ahead of today's unveiling of a $130 million-plus facelift of Eden Park for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The Eden Park development committee, chaired by Rob Fisher, will announce plans to boost the park from 47,500 to 60,000 and improve transport, noise and lighting issues that have plagued residents and spectators.

Among the plans are replacing the south stand and eastern terraces with a megastand that will cast a big shadow on neighbouring houses. The ASB Stand will be extended to where the rundown Panasonic stand is now.

It is understood that the uncovered west stand will remain and behind it, on the number two ground, a transport hub fronting Sandringham Rd will be built to take buses and the hundreds of taxis that now clog local streets Eden Park hosts big matches.

The Herald on Sunday reported this week that the cost will be significantly more than the $130 million touted by New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Chris Moller to upgrade Eden Park as a condition for hosting the largest sporting event after the soccer World Cup and Olympics.

The Herald has reported that the Auckland City Council will contribute up to $60 million and a further $13 million for an 8m-wide pedestrian overbridge from the transport hub to Kingsland. It is understood that the council will target much of its spending on improving transport facilities, including a park-and-ride facility within the transport hub that can be used year-round.

Eden Park Neighbours' Association chairman Mark Donnelly yesterday said the upgrade was an opportunity to deal with issues affecting residents, particularly traffic and transport. Containing noise within the stadium was another major concern. Lighting was less of a problem.

Mr Donnelly said the biggest concern for the association was funding running out to complete the entire package, particularly public transport and the transport hub.

Eden Park Residents' Association chairman Jose Fowler, whose organisation was set up last December in response to New Zealand securing the 2011 Rugby World Cup, said the 300-strong membership wanted the stadium to become a national asset and something to be proud to live alongside.

An online survey of members found the biggest concern was traffic management around Eden Park, moving one bottleneck from one street corner to another, and the failure of the council to tow cars illegally parked in residents-only parking areas.

Mr Fowler said resource consent should be granted immediately so work could begin on the upgrade.

"We do not have any plans to oppose [the resource consent]. We plan to work with the Eden Park Trust Board [which established the development committee to oversee the upgrade] and the council to make sure we can benefit from the development."

Sports Minister Trevor Mallard indicated that if the resource consent process dragged on, the Government would use call-in provisions at its disposal under the Resource Management Act to fast-track the process. He was not concerned at this stage.

The council has also offered Environment Minister David Benson-Pope an opportunity to make a submission on behalf of the Crown and to appoint a commissioner to the panel considering the resource consent application to be lodged on August 9.

The development committee will brief the two residents' groups this morning on the plans for Eden Park and hold three public meetings. The first will be tomorrow at the park between 10.30am and 12.30.

[mattygs]

I am thrilled to hear this news, it's fantastic to see that they have actually used their brain and gone for a legacy model, instead of making another mess of it by erecting truckloads of temporary stands which will be taken away at the end of the tournament.
Reading the paper, they list the benefits of the new design as ...

· less impact on the local community despite the increased capacity
· better containment of noise and light spill
· increased accessibility to public transport and to Eden Park itself
· fans able to move around inside the ground instead of on neighbouring
streets
· greatly improved facilities for fans, including more covered seating, better
toilets and easier access to food and beverage facilities.
Key features of the design include:
· total capacity of 60,000 for rugby and approximately 50,000 for cricket
· a new three-tier, South Stand, replacing the old South and South West
stands, with a capacity of approximately 24,000. The new South Stand will be
larger than the existing stand in height, reaching approximately to the knuckle
of the existing light towers
· a new East Stand, with the same three tiers as the South, to replace the
Terraces. The new stand will have a far higher standard of amenity for fans
and will mitigate effects – less noise and light ‘spill’ – for neighbours
· a state-of-the-art lightweight and transparent appearance to the outer shell of
the new stands
· number 1 oval expanded to meet ICC specifications
· improved spectator viewing for cricket fixtures by realigning the cricket wicket
to a north/south position
· retractable seats closer to the sideline providing a more intimate rugby
experience
· a “front door” for Eden Park off Sandringham Road
· a transport hub, featuring a pedestrian bridge linking Eden Park with
Kingsland Station and shops, and a bus and coach drop-off area
· an internal concourse that allows patrons to circulate around the ground
inside the stadium, instead of on local streets
· a sports practice area and community green
· world-class facilities in the new South and East stands including food and
beverage outlets, toilets and corporate areas, as well as more covered seats
– up from 23,000 to approximately 38,000
· community facilities
· a park-like appearance with open green spaces and play areas
· a potential park-and-ride facility
· removal of perimeter fencing, allowing community accessibility




As a side note, I was interested to read the latest issue of Rugby News magazine. There was a little piece which said that while the attention had been on Eden Park, a group of Wellington developers had been quietly drawing up plans as a backup if the Eden Park venture failed. It was to add another level onto Westpac Stadium in Wellington, to also get the capacity up to 60,000. That plan will now be off the table, but interesting none the less.

[micheal_warren]

great news for new zealand to finally have a decent size stadium!

[Rafa]

the local community have dealth with the impact of the stadium on their environment for ages...although i do believe they should be considered..if they not happy with whats happening they should just move away and stop moaning..

[Alexjc]

As a side note, I was interested to read the latest issue of Rugby News magazine. There was a little piece which said that while the attention had been on Eden Park, a group of Wellington developers had been quietly drawing up plans as a backup if the Eden Park venture failed. It was to add another level onto Westpac Stadium in Wellington, to also get the capacity up to 60,000. That plan will now be off the table, but interesting none the less.
[/quote]

Those plans are still out there, the idea was to lift capacity to 45000 under cover as an oval, with the push out seating taking it to @60kpax.

Like Jade stadium in Christchurch...watch this space.

[mattygs]

It would be great to see an increase of Westpac Stadium aswell, and hopefully some more firm plans will appear soon for Jade Stadium.

[Rafa]

[micheal_warren]

mattygs, on Jul 2 2006, 11:43 PM, said:

It would be great to see an increase of Westpac Stadium aswell, and hopefully some more firm plans will appear soon for Jade Stadium.

i cant see westpac stadium being increased in a hurry but i am interested in the changes being made to jade stadium