The roof, the whole roof, and nothing but the roof
The Geelong Cats' colosseum is a step closer to completion as workers prepare to lift huge roof sections in place on the $26-million eastern stand.
Geelong Football Club chief executive officer Brian Cook said yesterday the new roof would be a "landmark'' for the redevelopment.
The new 6000-seat stand would be ready for vocal supporters when the umpire bounces the first ball in revamped Skilled Stadium for the AFL home-and-away season on May 1.
"The whole thing is just abuzz, there's no doubt about it,'' Mr Cook said.
"...That roof plus seats will give it the perception of completion. It's almost there. There's only 10 weeks until our first game at the stadium."
It's been a pre-season of growth for the Cats. The team has built on its skills on the grass while construction workers have built the $26-million five-level stand on their eastern flank. Skilled Stadium's capacity will remain at about 27,000 but only about 3000 will have to stand this season, instead of 10,000 in the past.
Geelong fans get their first taste of football fever for 2005 when the Cats face the Kangaroos in the Wizard Cup's opening round at Manuka Oval, Canberra, on February 20. They have to wait until May until AFL season action arrives in the bayside city when the Western Bulldog bark at Skilled Stadium's gates.
Mr Cook signalled a warning to the Bulldogs, saying the parochial crowd might bring the house down but not the new roof.
"It's a ground we can be proud of,'' he said.
"We're trying to make it into a colosseum so the people who come to Geelong, the opposition, don't want to come down here because of the nature of our passion, our passionate supporters and the colosseum feel."
Club business operations manager Stuart Fox said it would take four to six weeks to complete the roof. Workers will truck giant pieces of the roof to the stadium and cranes will hoist them into place. Rigging work began on Saturday and roof work is tipped to start today.
Mr Fox said the club began preparing for the grand opening last week.
"Memberships been very strong, really a result of the redevelopment,'' he said.
"A lot of people got in early to try and get seats in the new eastern stand. We've already got more applications than seats available for the whole year.''
A City Hall spokesman said the north-bound lane of Moorabool Street between Kilgour and Fyans streets would remain open to traffic while the roof was being erected but a right turn lane into Verner Street would be closed. He said the restrictions would be in place until the work was done.
