Jump to content

Sydney Olympic Stadium to be demolished


spiele

Recommended Posts

Sydney's 2000 Olympic Stadium will be demolished. IMO a very sad loss and premature. Both of Australia's Olympic Stadium will now be lost (as the Melbourne's Olympic Stadium has been fully rebuilt since 1956). 

With the loss of the Georgia Dome and Tokyo Olympic Stadium, do we know of any other former Olympic venues that have numbered days? 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-23/olympic-and-sydney-football-stadiums-demolished-and-rebuilt/9182798

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Opposition Leader Luke Foley supported the rebuilding of the Olympic stadium but said the work at Moore Park was a waste of money.

"I've always said west before east because that's where the people are," he said.

"They will spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a white elephant, on a stadium that won't host grand finals, State of Origins, Bledisloe Cups or the biggest Socceroos qualifiers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Rob. said:

Wow, that's a little sad. Not sure what to make of that.

Thoughts @Sir Rols @thatsnotmypuppy?

NSW has been on a major infrastructure spending spree for a while now, and the stadiums have been next on the agenda for a while (there’s three on the list, Parramatta Stadium’s also on he roster). Both major parties have had their eye on them, with the difference between them mainly to do with the order of how they’d be done (depending on which electorates their trying to charm).

I’m surprised at the plan to totally pull down and re-do the Oly stadium - I thought the talk was just to upgrade it. I guess, as we’ve seen a bit around the traps lately, it might be a case of it being easier and cheaper to start again from scratch rather than refurbishing the existing structure. I’ll have to read more in the inevitable upcoming debates about it. Still, it’s a bit sad to see it go.

Moore Park is fair enough, Foley’s just trying to play to the Labor base in the western suburbs. But it’s fitting that our second showpiece stadium should be our more downtown city-centric stadium. But these days in NSW (and on the federal level) all the parties are desperate to play to the Sydney western suburbs for electoral advantage - it’s the make or break battleground for state and federal elections. 

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's sad to see. Is Homebush gonna stay as Sydney's main stadium or will it be rebuilt shrunk? From afar, if they're gonna rebuild all of them, wouldn't it make sense for Moore Park to be the big one - given that that is, you know, in Sydney :lol:

Worst thing is, it doesn't help the Olympic case...main stadium, just 17 years old, & it's so out of sync with the city's needs that they're gonna demolish it & start again? Not a good look for the Games - & Homebush is normally considered one of the more successful stadiums :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, JMarkSnow2012 said:

Very smart move- it means that next time Sydney actually bids for the Olympics, they can claim they don't need to budget for a new stadium.

The new stadium will be rebuilt as a permanent rectangular stadium with severely raked side seating and minimal end seating - thus adding a track for any future Games will need a deck to fit a track and thus will lower the capacity to below IAAF/IOC accepted levels.  It'll be an intimate stadium when done - but that isn't always a good thing.

The issue with the existing stadium is they built stands way too high that offer poor sight lines for anything bar rugby.  I've been to a few concerts there and the sound and configuration is pretty ordinary.  The stadium was built to be adaptable to a myriad of events but has proven to not be good for much at all and is a failure.  They went for vast temporary capacity over legacy.

The waste and expense is offensive to me personally - and that 2 billion is needed elsewhere urgently.

As for Moore Park - the location is always the biggest problem.  getting in and out is a nightmare.  The new light rail will help a bit but the traffic is a nightmare.  I have tickets to see Sia play there in a few weeks and am dreading getting in and out.

Edited by thatsnotmypuppy
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another Olympic venue which goes to the waste, I guess. Olympic sceptics are going to have lots of fun with this story just like with Athens 2004 venues and the misuse of Beijing's Bird Nest.

A big shame such a young stadium is going to meet its end so early. I thought Telstra Stadium was refubrished after the games in order to meet Rugby/Football requirements. Guess it wasn't enough and it still had many unsolved issues. The whole thing reminds me of the Delle Alpi Stadium fiasco in Torino (bigass stadium built for the 1990 WC which ultimately was demolished in favor of the Juventus Arena because of both high seats and a larger than life track and field which brought a big gap between the seats and the field)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/24/2017 at 12:58 AM, JMarkSnow2012 said:

Very smart move- it means that next time Sydney actually bids for the Olympics, they can claim they don't need to budget for a new stadium.

 

Actually this move will make it harder for Sydney to bid reasonably for a second Olympics as the 'new' Olympic Stadium is proposed to be tightly rectangular - a far more costly retrofit than the existing stadium which could just be reconfigured to its 2000 form by removing the two ends (which were added in 2002). 

Also should be noted many of the venues used around the Darling Harbour Olympic Zone have been demolished in the past few years (Convention Centre, Entertainment Centre, Exhibition Centre...) 

All this aside - Sydney's Olympic Park is looking great and is thriving - soon it will be connected to the Parramatta LRT network. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

But realistically, when would Sydney be looking at another Olympics? Even if Brisbane doesn't get the next Aussie go, Melbourne would surely (& the IOC would probably be sorely tempted by a near-zero-construction Melbourne bid). Heck, even Perth might want a crack if that new stadium there's big enough. Even though the demolition & rebuild is very wasteful, the original plan they had of converting the existing structure into a perma-rectangle seemed quite pragmatic tbh. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As much as it pains me as a Melburnian to admit, it would be foolish to rule out Sydney as an option in the coming decades. Only a few years ago the idea of another LA Olympics so soon after 1984 would have been unbelievable. Who knows - Sydney 2032? Admittedly however much of these stadia reconfigurations are NOT Olympic friendly at all. 

Brisbane has the weather, Melbourne has the infrastructure. If Melbourne can convince an early October Olympics -it might just happen. September is not cold but might be too cool. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, spiele said:

 

Actually this move will make it harder for Sydney to bid reasonably for a second Olympics as the 'new' Olympic Stadium is proposed to be tightly rectangular - a far more costly retrofit than the existing stadium which could just be reconfigured to its 2000 form by removing the two ends (which were added in 2002). 

Yes, TNMP made the same point. And thinking about it, I can't help being disappointed by the lack of imagination it represents. Australia's supposed to be a creative country- would it hurt so much to try creating an imaginative solution to the "running track incompatible with most regularly-played spectator sports" problem? *

 

* If we were discussing Britain, the answer would of course be "Yes, it would hurt like hell" ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, JMarkSnow2012 said:

Australia's supposed to be a creative country- would it hurt so much to try creating an imaginative solution to the "running track incompatible with most regularly-played spectator sports" problem? *

Isn't that exactly what Stadium Australia achieved?

Stade de France has the same issues. Even though it was built for football and rugby first and athletics second, the French football and rugby associations dislike it and want to build their own stadiums. Meanwhile the annual IAAF athletics meet in Paris has moved out of Stade de France to Stade Charlety.

The fact that Stadium Australia/Allianz Stadium and Stade de France are the two best compromise stadiums capable of hosting the Olympics and even they can't keep their tenants happy shows what an impossible task building a sustainable Olympic stadium has become. I still think it would be foolish for Australia to waste so much money building a replacement so soon, but it is essentially inevitable that the tenants will eventually move out, leaving the government holding on to a white elephant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe the issue with the SdF is one of ownership and revenue sharing rather than anything to do with the quality of the stadium. The reason French Rugby in particular wanted to move out was because they wanted to replicate what England has with Twickenham - a stadium the national association owns - and they'd be in a stronger financial position in the long-term. I don't believe sight-line compromises were a major trigger for them drawing up their own plans (which as I understand it, are now scrapped anyway).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Okay, the latest - the Stadium will live on after all:

Quote

 

Gladys Berejiklian backs down on ANZ stadium knockdown

The NSW premier says her government ‘does its homework and listens to the public’

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has executed a U-turn on her $2.5bn plan to knock down and rebuild Sydney’s two main sporting stadiums.

Instead the government will refurbish ANZ stadium at Homebush, built for the 2000 Olympics at a cost of $810m, shaving $500m off the cost.

Berejiklian said the refurbishment would involve keeping the shell of the former Olympic venue, and rebuilding it into a rectangular venue so that two-thirds of the spectators would have a far more intimate experience.

The venue will seat 70,000, which is smaller than its Olympic configuration.

The Coalition will, however, still demolish and rebuild the Allianz stadium at Moore Park at a cost of $730m, even though it is rarely at capacity. 

The government has been accused of putting investment in sporting venues ahead of other priorities.

The opposition leader, Luke Foley, has been touring the state in a red bus emblazoned with the slogan “schools and hospitals before stadiums”.

A recent opinion poll suggested more than half of NSW voters opposed the government spending more than $2bn to demolish and rebuild both ANZ and Allianz stadiums.

Coalition MPs have privately expressed their concern over the policy, which had the backing of the premier and the sports minister, Stuart Ayres.

Berejiklian defended the about-face, saying it was the first time cabinet had had detailed business plans from Infrastructure NSW for the two projects. The bureaucrats had been able to come up with less expensive options while still ensuring that Sydney would retain leading events. 

“We are a government that does its homework and listens to the public,” she said. “That comprehensive homework means we will be able to deliver two outstanding stadiums for Sydney at the best possible value for taxpayers.”

She also announced that Sydney had secured the rights to host the NRL grand final for the next 25 years.

Ayres said the NSW government’s revised plans for the stadiums are anticipated to cost about $1.5bn.

The government will also spend $200m on Parramatta stadium in Sydney’s west.

The Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust, which includes some of Sydney’s most powerful figures, such as broadcaster Alan Jones, has been urging a rebuild of the 30-year-old Allianz stadium, arguing that it does not meet safety and security standards. 

The Guardian

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Sir Rols said:

Okay, the latest - the Stadium will live on after all:

 

Thank god. Personally I think Sydney had one of the best main stadiums of any recent Olympic Games, it would've been a true loss. Though I'm left wondering what happened to this plan from October of 2016; was it NSW's new premier? 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Really glad too to see one of the better stadiums around the world, not just in Australia, will carry in its current exterior shape. Besides, if it got torn down, where would the NRL Grand Final, State of Origin matches, Australia rugby union, and Socceroos matches would go? Sydney would get left out in the cold for that for a few years. Not a good optic for Australia's biggest city. Technology certainly would be there for stadium conversion to have a track for track and field competition and reconvert configurations to make it intimate for rugby and soccer when needed, wouldn't it? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, yoshi said:

You'd think so, given that Stade de France has been doing that for 20 years now. But from afar, it seems like the big problem with Homebush is its location?

Not really - it’s whole raison d’etre was that it was located in the geographic and demographic centre of Sydney. And that it sure is. Early after the games, it suffered as being regarded as a bit of a ghost town area outside event times, but that’s no longer the case either - the Homebush Bay/Oly Park precinct is now a pretty decent commercial hub. And the stadium itself has long been operating in the black and staging plenty of events.

No, it’s more the commercial realities of it being a stadium originally designed for the sightlines and requirements of an Olympic athletics configuration, in a city where the main commercial demand is for traditional rectangular fields. And that’s a problem not unfamiliar in most parts of the world these days. Modern sports fans and franchises are just far more demanding in what they require for their facilities.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...