AMI Stadium - Gone?

[Timbo]

Been hearing all the news about AMI and it's long term prospects, but this seems to be the death knell:

Rugby league to the rescue for road-weary Crusaders

Josh Rakic
September 28, 2011 - 12:08AM
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The February earthquake devastated Christchurch, but since then it has been bringing a country together. And out of the rubble has come the unlikeliest of unions, between rugby and rugby league.

The Crusaders hope to know by next week if their grand plan to develop Rugby League Park, the home of Canterbury Rugby League, will be given the go-ahead as they race against the clock to raise funds and begin reconstruction of the venue in time for their round-one clash with the Chiefs on March 9.

''There's not just another stadium down the road so we're trying to get a temporary stadium off the ground for next year,'' Crusaders chief executive Hamish Riach said. ''And our preferred site is in Addington by the raceway at Rugby League Park - the council has given us approval and the rugby league boys have said yes, and we're in the process of trying to figure how we might fund it. It's going to cost some millions. It's not cheap to set up.''

While AMI Park is able to be repaired, it's understood it will cost less to demolish it and restart than begin the rescue operation. So Riach believes the Crusaders will need to be based out of the temporary ground, which will seat about 20,000, for at least the next three years.

''Think of Rugby League Park like this - the ground is a mud heap, the lighting is inadequate and both stands are condemned. It's just a site,'' he said.

''We have to re-turf it, put up new lights and do all the structure around it. And, understandably, council has a lot more to worry about than supplying funding for a football ground. Christchurch has a $20 billion problem.

''But the stadium needs to be done for our first home game in March. So time is our enemy. We are making good progress and people are really supporting it but it's complicated and we are getting to that point where certainly in the next week or two we need to know if we can go ahead with it.

''We're very determined to have the Crusaders based in Christchurch; we don't want to have them forced to travel again. We want it not only for the team's sake, but for our fans and our commercial partners that are in Christchurch.''

Many in Canterbury still believe that had the Crusaders not spent the entirety of last season on the road, they would have defeated the Reds in the Super Rugby final in Brisbane. So while Nelson and Timaru are viable options for one-off matches, Riach is determined to make sure the team has a full-time home, even if it is ''temporary'', as soon as possible.

''I saw some of the Canterbury All Blacks last week and the first thing they asked me was if we had a home ground for next year,'' Riach said.

''Financially, it's been very difficult. We were hoping for a real financial bonanza in England [where the Crusaders played the Sharks at Twickenham] last year that would have helped our year, but in the end the fixed costs were pretty high and were basically just met by the money through the gate.

''One of the things we're trying to make people understand is that essentially, the city doesn't have an outdoor facility … there is nowhere else that can host anything - a concert, a marching band …''

Plan B is for the Crusaders to play out of Canterbury Rugby Union's Rugby Park, which plays host to the domestic competition. But facilities are limited and it's in a residential area with limited parking.

However, if the groundswell of support for the Crusaders is anything to go by in Christchurch, one way or another, you can expect to see the Super Rugby heavyweights playing the Waratahs at Rugby League Park next season.

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union ... 1kvj3.html

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3 years at Rugby League park? Wow, that'll have to hurt the Crusaders revenue stream. The article says 20,000 but everything I'm reading elsewhere says closer to 16k.

I've been watching the world cup pretty well consistantly, there's been a lot of comments saying there's an opinion that the 'Otago Solution' should be implemented in Christchurch - a 30,000 seater state of the art enclosed rectangular stadium for rugby, and a re-developed grade ground to hold 5-10,000 for cricket.

But it's a long road ahead for either solution from the looks.

NB - on demolishing a site and building a stadium in a hurry for elite sport, follow the below link to a thread I posted nearly 18 months ago. It's certainly do-able:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3384

[crabs]

Christchurch sport to get a (temporary) new home

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/ar ... d=10764613



It's only temporary but it will at least be a home and Christchurch will soon be able to host national and international sporting and cultural events after the turmoil caused by the Christchurch earthquakes.

Prime Minister John Key today announced a new temporary stadium on Rugby League Park with seating for 17,000 at a cost of $20 million. The tab will be picked up by the Government, with help from the Christchurch City Council and NZRU.

The All Blacks will play a test against Ireland there in June but it will also play home to the Crusaders and Canterbury rugby teams. The Wellington Phoenix have also said they would consider returning to play a game there and organisers for football's Under-20 World Cup to be staged in New Zealand in 2015 will add it to the list of possible venues.

Sport is one way to help heal the considerable wounds from the earthquakes, which caused the relocation of a number of Rugby World Cup games away from Christchurch. The announcement coincided with today's New Zealand Cup trotting at Addington, the first major event to be hosted in the city for some time.


"Restoring the opportunity for Cantabrians to support their major sporting teams is an important part of the recovery and rebuilding of Christchurch,'' Key said.

"The new temporary stadium will allow Cantabrians to experience the excitement of Crusaders and Canterbury ITM Cup home games again as well as Phoenix football matches, rugby league games, other major sporting events, concerts and festival events.

"I'm thrilled the New Zealand Rugby Union has also announced today our world champion All Blacks will play a test match against Ireland at the new venue in June next year.

"Cantabrians have had to endure so much over the past 14 months, with the series of earthquakes meaning they missed out on hosting any Rugby World Cup matches and all of the Crusaders' home games this year.

"Today's announcement about the new stadium is fantastic news after it was decided a few months ago that the badly damaged AMI Stadium would be closed for all of 2012 as engineering assessments continue.''

Construction will start on Rugby League Park next week and is expected to be completed by March next year, in time for the 2012 Super Rugby season and the Crusaders' first home game. It will include undercover seating for 8500 people as well as corporate hosting facilities.

Capacity exists for the stadium to increase to 25,000 with temporary seating and New Zealand Football chief executive Grant McKavanagh said it was a genuine option for future All Whites and Football Ferns matches, as well as the Under-20 World Cup.

"It's an important step in Christchurch being able to host matches during the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, an event which will give the city valuable world-wide exposure,'' McKavanagh said.

Rugby League Park is unlikely to be a long-term option, even though AMI Stadium is likely to be demolished. Options for a new, more permanent venue are being considered.

[Boba Fett]

Poor bastards. AMI was so good...

[alabakiwi]

At least its better than Brookvale Oval.

[Boba Fett]

At least its better than Brookvale Oval.

He shoots, he scores!

[IanRitchie]

i don't understand the rendering.

rugby league park has a pitch that is 200 metres long. they're showing they'll be using the current stands (obviously not all considering the condemned stand). but the stands at the moment aren't at the end the image shows.

[alabakiwi]

The answer to that is here:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/supe ... aders-base

[Timbo]

Any word on what's going to happen to cricket in Christchurch while all this is happening?

[Jeffles]

Canterbury Cricket play at QEII Village Green (just outside the athletics track). Hagley Oval is getting a run for a tour game, Canterbury v South Africa. Other than that, no international cricket there.

Village Green might be an option. They play at Queenstown which has a tiny grandstand. You could erect something temproary there for an international.

[IanRitchie]

last i saw of the village green the field was covered with liquefaction. it's right in the middle of some of the worst hit areas.

[Jeffles]

That might explain why the tour game is at Hagley Oval. It also shows what a massive part of the city has been hit. QE2 is away from the city centre.

Poor bastards. I know sporting venues are the least of their concerns.

[IanRitchie]

i see the t20 is being played at rangiora today. lincoln university is also an option, thinking about it.

[redback_original]

Even before the 2011 quake, Christchurch had ceased to be a venue for international cricket.

Now it's not even really a viable venue for domestic cricket.

Rangiora might have a cheese factory but little else.

[IanRitchie]

that's not accurate at all. qe2 was scheduled for a test match in about 2014, and one day/t20 games at ami were still pulling crowds. their biggest problem was the encroachment of the rugby season.

rangiora has also been hosting domestic cricket for as long as i remember.

[redback_original]

Yes you're right. I shouldn't have said 'ceased'.

Though back in the 80s and 90s CHCH was always a regular feature on the test calendar.

Now we have Hamilton and Napier in the mix, poor old CHCH misses out.

Which is sad. Great cricketing history in CHCH. The Hadlees are a testament to that.