I actually don't think it's really off topic (too much anyway). I say this because with rugby playing such a long season, and with rugby's current influence on stadia in NZ, coupled with the economic reality that cricket makes far less money than rugby in NZ, then as stadiums are developed in line for 2011 (and three key stadiums: Eden Park, Carisbrook and Jade Stadium, which are multi-use grounds) will tend to be developed in a rugby-centric way, regardless of whether cricket can actually be played on these grounds in Feb and March (New Zealand's summer is too short to play in November and even December can push it).

What happens before 2011 will also influence what the 2015 Cricket World Cup will look like in NZ.

NZC seems to think it will get about half the games and maybe a semi-final (and this was in the bid). Perhaps the designers will have foresight and include retractable seating (but I doubt it). Jade Stadium has minimal retractable seating but I haven't heard of any in the design for Eden Park.

From today's NZ Herald

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story ... D=10389045

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.

There goes any hope of this becoming a good redevelopment...I thought you said the dodgy terracing is getting f***** off Ian Ritchie.

Some serious help needs to be given in this redevelopment.

I agree the development is disappointing BUT the West stand is normal individual seating ... the Eastern Terraces and the Southern stand are going to be torn down and replaced by the mega-stand, so there won't be any terraces.

What alabakiwi said - the west stand is at the other end of the ground from the terraces.

The upper west stand is actually a decent stand. It needs to be bigger though.

love the RU spin

No pictures yet but here are some more details from newswire:

http://www.newswire.co.nz/main/viewstor ... 6&catid=17

Design Concepts For A World-Class Eden Park Revealed

The Eden Park Trust Board today revealed a fresh and contemporary design concept for upgrading Eden Park in preparation for the Rugby World Cup in 2011 and beyond.

“Winning the rights to host the Rugby World Cup has given us a one-off opportunity to make Eden Park into the stadium it should be,” said Rob Fisher, Chair of the Eden Park Development Committee.

“This is our chance to get it right; to secure a world-class experience for the fans, to improve the Park’s effect on the local community, and to deliver long-term economic benefits for Auckland and New Zealand well past 2011 and the Cricket World Cup in 2015,” he said.

Mr Fisher said that in the lead-up to the bid for RWC 2011, there had been an extensive process to consider all options for meeting the tournament’s requirements for a 60,000 seat stadium.

“On every count, upgrading Eden Park came out on top over expanding another ground or a green-fields development.”

Mr Fisher said a green-fields development would have been very difficult to achieve in the timeframe and the cost of land purchase, for example at the Tank Farm (Wynyard Point), would have been cost-prohibitive.

“As it stands, Eden Park already possesses the ASB Stand, the West Stand and a world-class playing surface with a total replacement cost in excess of $180 million, in addition to the main and number 2 grounds.”

“Eden Park also has the advantage of close proximity to bus and rail services, and to Auckland city’s tourist infrastructure of hotels, entertainment, bars and restaurants.”

Mr Fisher said that by international standards, Eden Park was already well-connected to public transport facilities and that in recent years, patronage had increased significantly. “The redevelopment will make the most of this connectivity and aim to achieve further public transport use by fans.”

Mr Fisher said Auckland also had the population growth to ensure the expanded stadium was financially sustainable over the long term.

Rugby fans who got wet at the All Blacks vs. Ireland test match earlier in June will be pleased to know that the number of covered seats at the stadium will increase by 15,000 to 38,000, providing under cover seating for close to two thirds of the patrons attending matches at the new Eden Park.

However, Mr Fisher said it would not be financially sustainable to put a roof on the stadium.

“We have to keep our feet on the ground. Most major rugby stadia around the world, including Sydney’s Telstra Stadium, Twickenham and Stade de France, do not have a roof. Such developments come with enormous cost, and we can’t comprise the ongoing commercial viability of the Park.”

Mr Fisher said the cost estimate for the project, at $320m, including escalation and contingency allowances, was not directly comparable to earlier rough estimates, which put the cost at $160m.

“The $160m was based on a new South Stand and temporary seating for the tournament. What we are proposing is a different scheme, involving more comprehensive transport initiatives, replacement of the Eastern Terraces, an internal concourse around the ground and a permanent, long-term solution for Eden Park.

“Our decision to opt for a ‘legacy model’ instead of temporary seating or a scaled-back revamp has not been made lightly. We have been through a full commercial analysis and peer review of various design options and costs.

“A scheme based around temporary seating would not have left any benefit to the local or regional community after the Rugby World Cup, and created no ongoing economic pay-off for Auckland and New Zealand,” he said.

“It’s critical that we seize this opportunity and do a great job. This is New Zealand’s chance to shine on the world stage and to lock in the benefits of possessing an international-quality stadium.”

Mr Fisher said costs compared well on a per-seat basis with similar projects.

It is anticipated that a mixture of private and public sector investment will fund the redevelopment.

“Unlike other major New Zealand stadia, Eden Park has not received any substantive ratepayer funding, while providing significant economic spin-offs to the Auckland region and New Zealand as a whole for many years.”

Mr Fisher said it was possible that the governance structure of the Park, which is run by a Trust Board for Auckland Cricket and Auckland Rugby, might well change. “This will depend on the final funding mix.”

John Alexander, Chief Executive of the Eden Park Trust Board said that overall, the new-look Eden Park would have less effect on the community despite accommodating more people.

“Feedback received from community representatives at public meetings earlier this year has been enormously helpful to our design development process. I would like to thank the Sandringham, Kingsland and Mt Eden communities for their input and support to date.

“Specific attention has been given to tackling issues that we acknowledge are of concern to the local community; the visual impact of the Park, improving public transport use, traffic management, noise and light spill, and containing pedestrian movements to and from games.”

The Trust Board is expecting to lodge an application for resource consent in August.

Key benefits of the design include:
• 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

This is promising.

http://www.allblacks.com/index.cfm?layout=displayNews&newsArticle=4117

I didn't mean to get all the but at least it had the info.





It is looking ok. Stretch the new stand around to replace the west stand though.

Funny how it almost looks like a real stadium.

That's looking ok.

And it seems the New Stand isn't as close to the Union markins as the other design...must be retractable?

Or Is it the West Stand that is retractable?

The loss of capacity of cricket is not much of an issue, 50,000 should be perfect in its bid for a Semi Final of the Cricket World Cup.

West stand ain't retractable. It would cost a pretty penny to make it retractable. Good idea though. It makes for some dumbass cricket boundaries.

Some seats at the front of the ASB/North stand are retractable, or should i say removable. I'm guessing the retractable seats are in the new stand.

Would have to be the entire lower tier of the new stand then?

Right bet. I guess a little like the old Mile High stadium (i think i've got that right)


I should have watched the news tonight.

60K you say......... i hope the public transport is good cause looking at the photo i cant see how the hell 60K cars can get in and out of that area, is there even a car park ?

other than that, 2nd design better than last one, no stupid huge uncovered end, just a normal sized uncovered end

The plan is for a public transport hub behind the stand that says Eden Park.