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Central Coast
Gosford Council general manager is lobbying for $30m to upgrade Central Coast Stadium
Emma Herd
Central Coast Gosford Express Advocate
February 06, 2015 1:00AM
Gosford Council CEO Paul Anderson Mayor and Lawrie McKinna have visions for Central Coast Stadium
BIG-time concerts and international sporting blockbusters could be held at Central Coast Stadium if Gosford Council chief executive Paul Anderson gets his wish of a multi-million-dollar upgrade.
Mr Anderson has called on the NSW Government to help fund a $30 million upgrade to increase the capacity of the council-owned stadium to 32,000.
His comments come in the wake of the State Government’s recent decision to allocate $600 million to upgrade stadiums in Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle.
The bold vision could see the Gosford stadium, considered one of the best regional venues in Australia, host A-list music acts and world cup sporting fixtures.
Gosford Council CEO Paul Anderson Mayor and Lawrie McKinna have visions for Central Coast Stadium
The 12,000-seat upgrade would also boost the long campaign by the Central Coast Bears for a team in the National Rugby League and bring big NRL games to Gosford.
“This stadium is one of the only ones owned by a council in the country and the State Government doesn’t want to help fund it,” Mr Anderson said.
Mr Anderson said he envisaged that the additional seating would take the form of an extra tier on both the eastern and western stands and the northern concourse.
He said there would be no plans to put seating at the Brisbane Water end of the stadium so the iconic palm trees and water views would be preserved.
“Those palm trees and the water have become synonymous with the stadium and we wouldn’t want to lose that,” he said.
A large Fijian contingent cheer on their team. Fiji v Scotland at Central Coast Bluetongue Stadium during the Rugby League World Cub in 2013.
It is understood it is not the first time representations have been made for support to upgrade the 20,059-capacity stadium, with government assistance first sought a decade ago.
With the Central Coast Stadium now 15 years old, Mr Anderson wants to increase its capacity and corporate facilities to give it a wider appeal.
He said at least $30 million would be required for upgrades and some structural maintenance.
“We’d like to increase the capacity so we’re able to appeal to a broader cross-section of sports and other entertainment providers,” he said.
“We also need to secure accommodation of the right standard close to the facility.
“Gosford missed out on the Asian Cup because of the capacity of the stadium and because we only had one international hotel within travelling distance.”
Gosford missed out on any of the Asian Cup soccer matches.
A 32,000 capacity would place the stadium just shy of Newcastle’s Hunter Stadium which has 33,000 seats.
While he has not made any formal approaches to government, Mr Anderson said he had a brief discussion with Premier Mike Baird about the stadium last week.
A spokesman for Sport and Recreation Minister Stuart Ayres did not respond directly to the question of allocating funds to Central Coast Stadium.
He said the Government’s focus was on upgrading larger venues in Sydney.
Former Central Coast Stadium managing director Monique Marks said Gosford had regularly missed out on major sporting and entertainment events.
Ms Marks, who operated the stadium for 14 years, said a lack of seating capacity and inadequate corporate facilities were to blame.
She said seating of at least 25,000-30,000 is the benchmark capacity for a venue to be considered by promoters of major events.
“If we were to have a capacity of 30,000 to 35,000 you would get a lot of big acts,” Ms Marks said.
Major acts won’t come to Gosford stadium because its seating capacity is too small.
“There is no way a concert promoter with the costs associated with putting on a concert would come to Gosford with 20,000 seats. It is just not viable.
“If we upgraded our stadium basically any A-list concert act that goes to Sydney could come to Gosford.
“International sporting tournaments like the Asian Cup consider our venue a training facility because we don’t have the seating capacity and corporate facilities they need.
“We have half the capacity for corporates than Newcastle. We have no major rooms for sit-down functions. A lot of hirers want to do a sit-down dinner for 200-300 people and we just can’t accommodate them.”
The stadium has only been able to support smaller events like the World Supercross Masters
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Bit of a pipe dream. The NRL has once again put expansion on the backburner, and CC is now about fifth in line.
I also liked the 'get world cup sporting events' comment. What events could they possibly talk about?
) so I thought I'd post my thoughts on CC stadium.
but I thought I'd throw my two cents in the ring!
