NEWS on the stadium front...
Speaking to the new owner of the Glory on Wednesday night and he said that they are going ahead with the redevelopment of MES...

HOWEVER aparently it is only going to be 31,000 seats not the 35,000 that the Force wanted. This was a compromise between the 2 teams for the size of the venue. Aparently they are in negotiations with contractors for food and drink stuff and when that is all ironed out they are going to make the announcement. He did say that it was going to be April/June which conflicts a bit with what the Force membership guys and the Major Stadia Taskforce have said (they were saying March announcement).

Who knows what you can trust but he seemed genuine enough, he was just chatting with a friend of mine after Touch rugby and got to talking about it.

There is a snippet on the whole force forums, which has alleged that Tony Sage was speaking to one of his mates about the new stadium. And that 31,000 had been agreed to as a compromise...which highlights the article that I stated, that the Force would accept anything around the 30,000 mark when I did the interview with the CEO of Town of Vincent.

It seemed the Glory didn't want a 35,000 seat stadium, well Sage that is. This plan would mean that the Shed gets destroyed, the southern and eastern stands lose the temporary stands and stands flank up to the Fred D Book Stand which stays as it is. However the plans for the 32,000 seat facility had two minor stands on each side of the Fred D Book, with 31,000 I would suspect it is one stand.

It will be a top stadium and I won't complain about a 31,000 seat stadium...I would expect it also allows in the future for a World Cup bid for the western side to be expanded to a three tier monster stand.

Seems reasonable. So I guess we’ll see the design in 3 or 4 years?

[QUOTE=Scribbler;11670491]From today's West:

$200m stadium plan for rival codes
GARETH PARKER

A brand-new rectangular stadium seating 35,000 people and costing more than $200 million could be built from scratch at Members' Equity Stadium under an option being considered by the State Government's major stadium task force.

The task force, headed by Chamber of Commerce and Industry boss John Langoulant, asked the Town of Vincent last December to come up with a plan for a brand-new 35,000-seater stadium built to world-leading specifications, along the lines of Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, unencumbered by budgetary constraints.

Vincent mayor Nick Catania and chief executive John Giorgi presented their interim findings to the task force's technical advisory committee on Monday. The plans, drawn up by Peter Hunt Architects, show:

•Complete demolition of the existing Members Equity Stadium infrastructure.

•A realigned and slightly enlarged pitch to International Rugby Union specifications.

•An enclosed and continuous two-tier grand stand with a curved roof.

•A sunken playing field, underground parking, corporate suites and merchandise, food and beverage facilities.

However, Vincent, which is desperate for Perth Oval to remain the site of WA's premier rectangular facility and sensitive to a brand-new stadium's price tag, is also continuing to pursue the staged development of Members Equity Stadium to take it from its existing 18,000 capacity to 22,500, 25,000 and eventually 32,500.

This option would retain the existing infrastructure at Members Equity and ultimately cost as little as half as much as a completely new stadium.

Mr Catania said the council's strategy was to present a range of options at a range of price points because it acknowledged the Government could only spend a finite amount of money on sporting stadiums.

“Members Equity is the rectangular stadium and it can be adapted to whatever budget the Government puts to us,” Mr Catania said. “It's in the right location and generally accepted already as the (State's) premier rectangular stadium.”

Vincent will make its final presentation on both options to the task force later this month.

Mr Langoulant could not be contacted yesterday.

The 52,500 capacity Suncorp Stadium - the home of Queensland rugby league which was formerly known as Lang Park - was completely rebuilt in 2003 to cater for rugby union, soccer, gridiron and concerts and is now Brisbane's foremost sporting facility.

Meanwhile, Premier Alan Carpenter claimed yesterday that he met the WA Football Commission only to ensure it would present the task force with all the information it needed to produce an informed report.

He refused to reveal what he thought of the WAFC's $400 million plan to rebuild Subiaco Oval because: “I don't want to send a signal from today about what option I might or might not prefer because it'd be read and analysed a thousand times over.”

“I don't want to send a signal from today about what option I might or might not prefer because it'd be read and analysed a thousand times over.”

•Complete demolition of the existing Members Equity Stadium infrastructure.

•A realigned and slightly enlarged pitch to International Rugby Union specifications.

•An enclosed and continuous two-tier grand stand with a curved roof.

•A sunken playing field, underground parking, corporate suites and merchandise, food and beverage facilities.

However, Vincent, which is desperate for Perth Oval to remain the site of WA's premier rectangular facility and sensitive to a brand-new stadium's price tag, is also continuing to pursue the staged development of Members Equity Stadium to take it from its existing 18,000 capacity to 22,500, 25,000 and eventually 32,500.

This option would retain the existing infrastructure at Members Equity and ultimately cost as little as half as much as a completely new stadium.

Meanwhile, Premier Alan Carpenter claimed yesterday that he met the WA Football Commission only to ensure it would present the task force with all the information it needed to produce an informed report.

“For $100m you can get a full upgrade of an existing stadium or you can get a slightly bigger stadium for $200m. Which will it be?”
“The cheap one.”

And if they did opt for the exy version, why would the Glory want to leave?