Subiaco surf park plan
An ambitious plan has been proposed for Subiaco Oval for its life after football in 2017, with a $120 million concept to turn it into an artificial wave lagoon.
The 43,000-seat venue, currently known as Domain Stadium, will no longer be required following the 2017 AFL season when football moves to the new 60,000-capacity Perth Stadium at Burswood. It’ll also be the new home of cricket with the WACA moving all major matches from its current ground to the new venue.
The proposal, revealed by The Sunday Times, would be an Australian-first concept combining a wavegarden, elevated parkland, market space and unique apartment living. The Subiaco Surf Park idea is a joint venture between Subiaco-based architects MJA Studio and international surf park company Wave Park Group.
The dedicated surfing facility would feature a 300m long by 120m wide freshwater lagoon using ground-breaking “wavegarden” wave generating technology which currently only existing in two European surf parks with another under construction in Texas. It would have six zones with different sized waves catering for everyone from beginners to professionals. Also included within the new venue would be housing, public parkland, market hall and plaza as well as a permanent home for the WA Football Hall of Fame.
WA Premier Colin Barnett has previously said Subiaco Oval should be demolished for housing development. A spokeswoman for Planning Minister John Day said he had not seen the latest proposal.
A number of proposals are sure to be brought forward over the next couple of years. One of which is keeping the playing surface, reducing the capacity and retaining the venue as a boutique stadium.
The Western Australian Football Commission still has 77 years to run on their 99-year lease. While there’s no chance AFL matches will continue to be played at the venue, the West Coast Eagles may continue to use it as their training base and WAFL matches may also be played there.
