Multi-purpose Adelaide CBD stadium concept revealed

Austadiums • Wednesday 16th September 2020
Adelaide Riverbank West Stadium

Adelaide Venue Management has pitched a new 22,000-capacity stadium on the CBD’s Riverbank that includes a football pitch that can elevate to create an indoor arena.

A pitch video created by the authority that runs the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Convention Centre and Coopers Stadium, calls for a second major stadium in Adelaide to solve issues with existing facilities that are nearing the end of their useful lives.

The proposed arena, dubbed Riverbank Arena, is located on the edge of Adelaide’s CBD, tucked in on the riverfront, behind the new Royal Adelaide Hospital and train station, southwest of Adelaide Oval and adjacent the Adelaide Convention Centre.

The stadium features a capacity of 22,000 for rectangular sports such as football, rugby league and union. The football pitch can then rise up to cover the arena and reveal a lower bowl, able to host sports such as basketball and netball with a capacity of 15,000. Arena-style concerts will be able to attract up to 30,000 fans.

The video says the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Coopers Stadium and Priceline Stadium are all nearing the end of their useful lives, while the Entertainment Centre’s 10,000 capacity and netball centre’s 3,200 capacity is no longer sufficient.

It says the former 36ers home venue Adelaide Arena has reached the end of its life and is no longer fit for professional basketball (the NBL team now plays at the Entertainment Centre) and while the Convention Centre is considered world-class, it lacks exhibition space.

The video also says the new roof recently installed at Memorial Drive provides a short to mid-term fix, but a larger venue will deliver superior world-class tennis events.

It’s believed the pitch video was created last year and presented to the Government, and while a second major stadium for the city was put on the agenda earlier this year, Covid-19 put the plans on ice.

However, leading industry groups are now calling for the plans to be urgently reconsidered as the Reserve Bank called on states to deliver more stimulus to save and create jobs.

An accompanying business case forecasts 3200 direct and 5800 indirect jobs from such a project.

"In order to unlock the full potential of the South Australian growth agenda we must be competitive, strategic and future-thinking,” the pitch video states."

"Currently, our exiting venue infrastructure is unable to maintain current socio-economic benefits or create new growth opportunities for South Australia."

"SA is missing out and is no longer competitive."

It’s not the first time a new stadium has been proposed for the Riverbank precinct in Adelaide, with a business case for a new indoor stadium put forward in late 2018, while a major redevelopment for Memorial Drive was also proposed earlier that same year.

Riverbank West ArenaProposed Stadiums

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Adelaide Venue Management has pitched a new 22,000-capacity stadium on the CBD’s Riverbank that includes a football pitch that can elevate to create an indoor arena.
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