It's easy to be a stadium believer, especially if you're not the one paying the $700 million bill. It's just as easy to be a naysayer, because ... well, it has been 13 years.
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By now you've probably seen the fancy drawings of a Civic entertainment precinct, or at least heard there's a new push to build a stadium in the city.
Infrastructure projects tend to spark fierce debate (did someone say light rail?) in Canberra. When it comes to a stadium, the same themes pop up: the cost, the location and the pool.
The latest proposal - backed by the tourism, hospitality, business, sport and convention industries - goes a long way to giving the ACT government options to solve those problems.
Still, there are doubters. Here are some of their concerns and some potential answers.
DOES CANBERRA REALLY NEED A NEW RECTANGULAR STADIUM?
The simple answer is yes. It doesn't matter if you're a Civic dreamer, a Bruce believer or an Exhibition Park hopeful.
Canberra Stadium is 50 years old, was originally an oval and, because of its spread-out design, offers one of the worst spectator experiences in Australia.
A small percentage of seats are undercover at Bruce and the Meninga Stand is nearing the end of its structural lifespan.
The reality is the ACT government is facing the prospect of significant stadium investment even if it doesn't go down the city path.
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Trying to refurbish an old stadium will take longer, require ongoing maintenance and still cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
So is a knock down-rebuild better? Knocking down and rebuilding the Sydney Football Stadium cost more than $800 million.
The ACT government can't afford to knockdown Canberra Stadium because there's no where else for the Raiders and Brumbies to play.
A staged rebuild looms as the best option if the stadium remains at Bruce, but not necessarily cheaper than Civic.
For example, the Geelong stadium upgrade is now at stage five. Yes, stage five. The latest stage is costing $142 million for unisex changerooms, cricket facilities, and completion of the stadium bowl.
An SCG upgrade of two of the seven grandstands cost $186 million in 2013.
The ACT government doesn't even own Canberra Stadium. So, would they have to buy it, then spend $400 million upgrading it?
Whichever option you support, there's going to be significant spending.
DOES IT NEED TO BE IN CIVIC?
It is true Bruce and Exhibition Park are still on the location radar, and neither has the space constraints posed by the site of the Civic pool.
But what they have in available land, they lack in being able to benefit anyone else other than sporting teams.
A stadium and convention centre in Civic wouldn't need to manufacture a vibrant precinct, because the city and Braddon already offer that.
Bruce and Exhibition Park would need to try to manufacture atmosphere on game days, and then generate support for every other day. Homebush in Sydney is proof that doesn't work.
The fact the new proposal has the support of business, tourism and hospitality should end the debate on where the stadium should be. The Civic location benefits more than sporting teams and fans.
The bottom line is this: stadiums need more than an event make them an attractive destination.
People don't hang around at Bruce because there's nothing to do. You can't manufacture what's in Civic.
Yes, the city might be the hard option, and more expensive. But isn't the right option worth pursuing?
BUT WHO WILL PAY?
This is a sticking point for most. It's hard to see the ACT government being able to go it alone to fund the project.
They need federal support, which Senator David Pocock is pushing for as part of his quest to secure a city deal for the region.
The proposal sent to government officials this week suggests it's time for the Commonwealth to give land at the AIS precinct back to the ACT.
The Commonwealth retained the land under the proviso the Australian Sports Commission and AIS was used it for sport.
The commission owns the stadium and the arena, but no longer uses them for the development of elite athletes.
The land highlighted - including car parks, the stadium, arena and athletics track - has been unofficially valued with a view to being developed to ease housing pressure in Canberra. The proposal says selling the land would offset to the cost of a stadium in the city.
WHAT ABOUT CIVIC POOL?
It leaks and it's old, but there is a core group of users who don't want to lose a pool in the city.
It has an Olympic-size pool and the only diving facilities in Canberra, which are also needed for water polo.
Sport Minister Yvette Berry, however, conceded it was becoming too expensive to run (the government is spending $4 million during financial year to keep it open).
The government is keen to move the diving facilities to Stromlo, while ANU is building its own swimming pool.
The upshot: it's unlikely the pool will remain on the same site, even if it's not replaced by a stadium.
The parcel of land is too valuable to the government. If it's not a stadium, it will be apartments or hotels with shops.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THE ARENA AND ATHLETICS TRACK?
Fear not, indoor events lovers. A bigger and better convention centre is on the radar to get Canberra up to standard. It would expand Canberra's events capabilities - everything from concerts to exhibitions or functions - and even some indoor sports.
The University of Canberra has funding to complete an indoor sporting venue feasibility study. While smaller than the AIS Arena, it would be capable of hosting elite and community sport.
The arena is in the same boat as the stadium - it is tired and out of date. Any funding - like the $15 million committed for a 2024 reopening - is simply to keep it ticking along, not to improve the spectator or game/event experience.
The athletics track poses another interesting question. One option could be for the University of Canberra to also take on track and field facilities.
The university is keen to become the leading sport university in Australia, and an on-site track just down the road from AIS campus facilities seems like a decent compromise.
PARKING AND TRAFFIC FLOW
Newsflash one: There's more existing parking in close proximity to the proposed Civic site than there is at Canberra Stadium.
There's an option for parking to be built underneath a new convention centre, with extra available at the Canberra Centre, near the lake or various locations in the city.
Most people drive to Canberra Stadium because it's the easiest way to get there, and there's nothing to do before or after the game.
In Civic, it is hoped patrons would either leave the cars at home, or drop into bars and restaurants on the walk back to the parking lot.
Newsflash two: Shutting down roads on event nights will hardly disrupt peak-hour traffic, and it's not as though Bruce and Exhibition Park (ahem - Spilt Milk) are free-flowing traffic venues for cars or public transport.
Those who suggest it's a breeze getting to and from Canberra Stadium have clearly never been caught in the 30-minute traffic jam from all directions when kick-off gets close.
THE NEW PROPOSAL
Canberrans are wary of development propositions. The GWS Giants learnt that the hard way when Grocon launched an unsolicited bid to upgrade Manuka Oval and the surrounding area several years ago.
The bid fell over, and Manuka remains a 15,000-seat venue with ageing facilities.
This new push is not an unsolicited bid. There is no developer attached to the 36-page document presented to government officials, and there is no offer to build.
Instead, it is being badged as a "blueprint" for the ACT and federal governments, and shows Chief Minister Andrew Barr the Civic site is logistically possible and cost effective.
Barr was one the Civic locations biggest supporters. It was he who first floated the idea of a centrally-located stadium with a roof a decade ago, before backtracking this year because of perceived complications.
Now those issues have been solved, at least in theory, it has paved the way for Barr to put it back on the table as a viable option.
But for any meaningful movement to happen and for the new stadium to see the light of day, Barr's government has to pick up the plan and run with it in any direction it chooses.
STILL UNDECIDED OR SCEPTICAL?
Fair enough. Not everyone will agree with such significant spending, time and effort on a new stadium.
But I'd love to hear your concerns and reasons for opposition, so send me an email at chris.dutton@canberratimes.com.au.
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