Hobart Stadium
A new 30,000-capacity stadium was proposed for Hobart in mid-1997. The Elwick Showgrounds was the proposed site for the venue and construction was expected to begin in March 1998 - operational in time for the 1999 AFL season. Initially it would host pre-season AFL games, before potentially hosting premiership season matches.
Elwick Showgrounds, the home of pacing in southern Tasmania, was chosen after an exhaustive study of Tasmania's major sports venues, which also included York Park. The proposed stadium would have an MCG-sized arena with full lighting and would be the home for AFL football and international cricket in Tasmania. It would replace Bellerive Oval as a Test venue and also would be used for one-day international matches.
It would be a sand-based oval with state-of-the-art drainage. The $20 million first stage would provide seating for 23,000 people, with 11,000 undercover, and the $10 million second stage would add a further 7000 seats (5000 undercover). The TFL would either own or have a long-term lease of the site, which would be developed in several stages to meet AFL requirements. The stadium never went ahead and since then, both Bellerive Oval and York Park have been upgraded to AFL standard and both now host premiership season matches.