Drive to update Memorial Drive tennis hub

[Ho Really]

[...]

As I have said many times before, these smaller sporting teams in Adelaide, Adelaide United(+womens & youth teams), the netball, the 36ers, all need to be moved to a multipurpose, highly configurable venue that incorporates tennis. They will all be better off financially, which will help them be more successful on the pitch/courts.

All the field sports (aussie rules, soccer, rugby league, union, etc.) in one venue and all the court sports (tennis, basketball, netball, etc.) in another. That's two venues. The current government blew it at the last election by wanting to build the new stands at Adelaide Oval. Unfortunately I won't be seeing soccer played there in future on a regular basis. You may get a one off, but that's it. Soccer today wants rectangular venues. I guess those that follow the rugby codes would also agree. As for financially better, yes, as long as the calendar/schedules don't overlap too often.

Cheers

[crawf]

Ho Really, as I said; close the Entertainment Centre and move it's events to Memorial Drive, granted they build and entirely new venue. With Next Gen out of the way they could build something fantastic (like Hisence Arena in Melbourne) which could have Netball, Basketball, Tennis AND MUSIC. That would centralise such major events. The Entertainment Centre is a shit venue, Poor layout, and it's back-line facilities are rubbish; the government can pretend that their upgrade was major but it was a stupid waste of money - all it did was tidy up a rubbish venue to begin with. With Next Gen, the government would have to acquire the land but it would be a worthy acquisition.

All well and good if you [can] buy NextGen. I don't think the Entertainment Centre is as bad as you say. Of course you could always have better, but you'd need a heck of a lot of money. As is it's got good parking and access to tram and heavy rail. If a few cafes and restaurants in the city loose some business because of foot traffic big deal. You can't have all your sporting/entertainment venues in one place. What else do you want?

Cheers

It's pretty average compared to venues interstate. All it is, is one big shed with a fancy dome attached.

The Next Gen/Memorial Drive site is the perfect location for a multi-purpose arena. It will give Adelaide the chance to put in a serious bid to annually host a major tennis event again (eg snatch the Kooyong), future venue for the Comm Games, decent venue for basketball/netball and ofcourse host concerts. Plus, it will make the Southern Plaza more of a destination and attract more people to the riverbank and city.

Regardless, I hope a new arena is built before 2020.

[rev]

[...]

As I have said many times before, these smaller sporting teams in Adelaide, Adelaide United(+womens & youth teams), the netball, the 36ers, all need to be moved to a multipurpose, highly configurable venue that incorporates tennis. They will all be better off financially, which will help them be more successful on the pitch/courts.

All the field sports (aussie rules, soccer, rugby league, union, etc.) in one venue and all the court sports (tennis, basketball, netball, etc.) in another. That's two venues. The current government blew it at the last election by wanting to build the new stands at Adelaide Oval. Unfortunately I won't be seeing soccer played there in future on a regular basis. You may get a one off, but that's it. Soccer today wants rectangular venues. I guess those that follow the rugby codes would also agree. As for financially better, yes, as long as the calendar/schedules don't overlap too often.

Cheers

They should spend a bit of coin and build a proper multi-use rectangular stadium seating about 20-30,000. With a roof all the way around. Even if Adelaide United only draws 15,000, that would still create an amazing atmosphere. Park 24 on Sir Donald Bradman Drive behind Ellis Park is a dust ball most of the year. Perfect location if you run the tram down Sir Donald Bradman to the airport, you'd link up a new stadium with public transport.
Then a smaller venue on the corner of Montefiore Road and War Memorial Drive of about 12,500 for tennis, basketball and netball that is configurable with movable seat bays. They could then also build a few outdoor courts with small stands surrounding it so that a proper ATP tournament can be held there.
Sell Ellis Park and Hindmarsh Stadium to help fund these.

Early morning pipe dreams

[ChillyPhilly]

With all the talk about Hindmarsh Stadium, my 2c is that the area surrounding the stadium should be upgraded and livened up to add some extra life in conjunction with a revitalised Bowden.

Back on topic, agree with most sentiments about Memorial Drive. A good opportunity there.

[Waewick]

With all the talk about Hindmarsh Stadium, my 2c is that the area surrounding the stadium should be upgraded and livened up to add some extra life in conjunction with a revitalised Bowden.

Back on topic, agree with most sentiments about Memorial Drive. A good opportunity there.

I agree.

If they manage to pull a NRL team (would rather a Union team but anyway) I would love to see some of the income reinvested.

IMO they really missed an opportunity recently when some of the offices came up for sale along Holden Street, even if it was simply to move the road and create some plazaa surrounding the ground.

It is such a shame however that it isn';t located a bit closer to Port road or they could built a dedicated walkway from the tram spot to the ground.

[ml69]

Ho Really, as I said; close the Entertainment Centre and move it's events to Memorial Drive, granted they build and entirely new venue. With Next Gen out of the way they could build something fantastic (like Hisence Arena in Melbourne) which could have Netball, Basketball, Tennis AND MUSIC. That would centralise such major events. The Entertainment Centre is a shit venue, Poor layout, and it's back-line facilities are rubbish; the government can pretend that their upgrade was major but it was a stupid waste of money - all it did was tidy up a rubbish venue to begin with. With Next Gen, the government would have to acquire the land but it would be a worthy acquisition.

All well and good if you [can] buy NextGen. I don't think the Entertainment Centre is as bad as you say. Of course you could always have better, but you'd need a heck of a lot of money. As is it's got good parking and access to tram and heavy rail. If a few cafes and restaurants in the city loose some business because of foot traffic big deal. You can't have all your sporting/entertainment venues in one place. What else do you want?

Cheers

It's pretty average compared to venues interstate. All it is, is one big shed with a fancy dome attached.

The Next Gen/Memorial Drive site is the perfect location for a multi-purpose arena. It will give Adelaide the chance to put in a serious bid to annually host a major tennis event again (eg snatch the Kooyong), future venue for the Comm Games, decent venue for basketball/netball and ofcourse host concerts. Plus, it will make the Southern Plaza more of a destination and attract more people to the riverbank and city.

Regardless, I hope a new arena is built before 2020.

I'm currently in Melbourne for the Australian Open (first time) and have been fortunate to see matches on both Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena.

The Margaret Court Arena is currently under renovation to erect a retractable roof and increase seating capacity from 6000 to 7500 seats, and i think 7000 to 7500 seats would be an ideal size for a Memorial Drive arena to host tennis, basketball and netball ... and there is sufficient space to do it on the existing site without razing the Next Generation building.

Margaret Court Arena actually has a surprisingly intimate feel, very close to the action even from the furthest row (which is only about 20 rows back from the court).

[crawf]

I have been fortunate to see matches on both Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena.

The Margaret Court Arena is currently under renovation to erect a retractable roof and increase seating capacity from 6000 to 7500 seats, and i think 7000 to 7500 seats would be an ideal size for a Memorial Drive arena to host tennis, basketball and netball ... and there is sufficient space to do it on the existing site without razing the Next Generation building.

What's the point of doing that, when you could build something that will be big enough to host concerts replacing the Entertainment Centre. It could be used for a future Commonwealth Games and maybe turned into a temporary swimming facility for the FINA World Swimming Championships.

[ml69]

I have been fortunate to see matches on both Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena.

The Margaret Court Arena is currently under renovation to erect a retractable roof and increase seating capacity from 6000 to 7500 seats, and i think 7000 to 7500 seats would be an ideal size for a Memorial Drive arena to host tennis, basketball and netball ... and there is sufficient space to do it on the existing site without razing the Next Generation building.

What's the point of doing that, when you could build something that will be big enough to host concerts replacing the Entertainment Centre. It could be used for a future Commonwealth Games and maybe turned into a temporary swimming facility for the FINA World Swimming Championships.

I doubt the state government would contemplate bulldozing the Entertainment Centre soon, having just spent $50M on it a few years ago .... perhaps in 20 odd years time it might when it again becomes outdated.

And hypothetically, even if the state govt does decide to rebuild an Entertainment Centre at Memorial Drive, it is highly likely that netball and basketball won't sign up as tenants, because as well as being way too big for their needs they will not be able to use the new Ent Cent as their home base because of the constant interruption of concert schedules.

I guess what I'm ultimately saying is that we need one larger arena for concerts etc and a smaller arena for netball/basketball.

If the state govt decided on the more expensive option to rebuild a brand new Ent Centre at Memorial Drive then fantastic. I just can't see it happening for a very very long time. And netball/basketball will still need to be catered for somewhere else.

[Watto100]

Has the powerhouse or whatever it is called these days due to ownership started struggling?
It would be great to see an indoor stadium near the ao, but we have hind marsh-ec-the power house , god it would be good to combine them all

[ChillyPhilly]

With all the talk about Hindmarsh Stadium, my 2c is that the area surrounding the stadium should be upgraded and livened up to add some extra life in conjunction with a revitalised Bowden.

Back on topic, agree with most sentiments about Memorial Drive. A good opportunity there.

I agree.

If they manage to pull a NRL team (would rather a Union team but anyway) I would love to see some of the income reinvested.

IMO they really missed an opportunity recently when some of the offices came up for sale along Holden Street, even if it was simply to move the road and create some plazaa surrounding the ground.

It is such a shame however that it isn';t located a bit closer to Port road or they could built a dedicated walkway from the tram spot to the ground.

Part of a little few ideas I put together just over a year ago included the above. Holden Street north of the Susan Street intersection would be closed and properties demolished. Land use would be changed to medium/high density residential and mixed-use and Mary Street would become the new walkway you mention, or pretty close to it. Milner Street would be a vista corridor. Manton Street would be made 'less attractive' as a peak hour cut through route by being reduced to one lane in each direction, with footpaths widened for tree planting and the asphalt surface being replaced by paving.

[Patrick_27]

I have been fortunate to see matches on both Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena.

The Margaret Court Arena is currently under renovation to erect a retractable roof and increase seating capacity from 6000 to 7500 seats, and i think 7000 to 7500 seats would be an ideal size for a Memorial Drive arena to host tennis, basketball and netball ... and there is sufficient space to do it on the existing site without razing the Next Generation building.

What's the point of doing that, when you could build something that will be big enough to host concerts replacing the Entertainment Centre. It could be used for a future Commonwealth Games and maybe turned into a temporary swimming facility for the FINA World Swimming Championships.

I doubt the state government would contemplate bulldozing the Entertainment Centre soon, having just spent $50M on it a few years ago .... perhaps in 20 odd years time it might when it again becomes outdated.

And hypothetically, even if the state govt does decide to rebuild an Entertainment Centre at Memorial Drive, it is highly likely that netball and basketball won't sign up as tenants, because as well as being way too big for their needs they will not be able to use the new Ent Cent as their home base because of the constant interruption of concert schedules.

I guess what I'm ultimately saying is that we need one larger arena for concerts etc and a smaller arena for netball/basketball.

If the state govt decided on the more expensive option to rebuild a brand new Ent Centre at Memorial Drive then fantastic. I just can't see it happening for a very very long time. And netball/basketball will still need to be catered for somewhere else.

ml69, you under estimate the popularity of netball and basketball in SA. The Thunderbirds play a few games per season at the Entertainment Centre and they sell out 14,000 seats, as for Basketball they sell out the 8,000 capacity Powerhouse often. Regardless, you'll note if you go into Rod Laver Arena they have tier curtains that close off tiers to make the venue more intimate if there isn't a sold out event. We've wasted bigger sums of money with upgrading something that is soon pulled down; I say the sooner the better. We have four separate venues that could all be incorporated into one venue that is located from the heart of the city, making it more appealing for interstate travelers for sport and music events.

I suspect if we see any action on such a project that it'll emerge when our oil boom eventually comes. Perth Arena (costed more than our Adelaide Oval upgrade) was the result of the state's mining boom.

[crawf]

I doubt the state government would contemplate bulldozing the Entertainment Centre soon, having just spent $50M on it a few years ago .... perhaps in 20 odd years time it might when it again becomes outdated.

The bulk of that money was directed towards the new entry and theatre building, which could be incorporated into a mixed use development. The arena however was hardly touched, accept for a few minor renovations.

And hypothetically, even if the state govt does decide to rebuild an Entertainment Centre at Memorial Drive, it is highly likely that netball and basketball won't sign up as tenants, because as well as being way too big for their needs theyf will not be able to use the new Ent Cent as their home base because of the constant interruption of concert schedules.

I guess what I'm ultimately saying is that we need one larger arena for concerts etc and a smaller arena for netball/basketball.

If the state govt decided on the more expensive option to rebuild a brand new Ent Centre at Memorial Drive then fantastic. I just can't see it happening for a very very long time. And netball/basketball will still need to be catered for somewhere else.

Not sure about netball, but basketball seems to manage well in the new Perth Arena. So why can't Adelaide do the same?

Within the next 5-10 years there needs to be some form of action towards a new major arena (around 14k). Or Adelaide will see more international acts bypass our city due to restrictive and average facilities. Memorial Drive/Next Gen is the perfect location IMO.

Second best would be on the corner of North Terrace and Morphett Street, but this is earmarked to be part of a future health / leisure precinct.

[Brucetiki]

ml69, you under estimate the popularity of netball and basketball in SA. The Thunderbirds play a few games per season at the Entertainment Centre and they sell out 14,000 seats, as for Basketball they sell out the 8,000 capacity Powerhouse often. Regardless, you'll note if you go into Rod Laver Arena they have tier curtains that close off tiers to make the venue more intimate if there isn't a sold out event. We've wasted bigger sums of money with upgrading something that is soon pulled down; I say the sooner the better. We have four separate venues that could all be incorporated into one venue that is located from the heart of the city, making it more appealing for interstate travelers for sport and music events.

I suspect if we see any action on such a project that it'll emerge when our oil boom eventually comes. Perth Arena (costed more than our Adelaide Oval upgrade) was the result of the state's mining boom.

The Thunderbirds have used the Entertainment Centre twice - for the 2010 and 2013 Grand Finals. The Diamonds have played there every year since 2010. All the Thunderbirds other games (including the 2013 second semi final) have been at Netball SA Stadium.

The last time Adelaide Arena was sold out was for Brett Maher's last home game in early 2009 - and the previous occasion was probably the 2001/02 Grand Final series. Whilst attendances have increased significantly this year (getting a couple of 6000+ attendances this season), in the past 10 years they've struggled to get 4000-5000 at games (whilst their form saw numbers drop right down the previous couple of seasons, they were on the decline for some time before the 36ers really turned to crap).

[SRJ]

Would be great to see the drive redeveloped and turn it into a World class sporting and entertainment Precinct.

[obituary resider]

The drive needs a bit of work done no doubt, but for the most part I actually think it should be kept as it. I just love the brick arches with the ivy growing on them - has a real boutique feel which I think aligns with the general atmosphere of the new stadium.