[VIS] Adelaide Baseball Stadium

[Nathan]

Adelaide Giants owner Ross Pelligra plans new baseball stadium and training site
The new owner of the Adelaide Giants has a vision to build a new world-class baseball stadium and international training site near the CBD. See where it could go.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business ... c5f1dde303

The new owner of the Adelaide Giants has outlined his vision to make Adelaide the country’s baseball capital with a new multi-million-dollar stadium at the centre of his ambitious plans.

Ross Pelligra, the multi-millionaire property tycoon who acquired the franchise from the Adelaide Crows, has already toured several potential sites for a new stadium, which would cost up to $40m to build and seat around 5000 spectators.

Victoria Park, the Riverbank precinct between Royal Adelaide Hospital and River Torrens, and a site adjacent to the SA Athletics Stadium at Mile End are among a list of CBD fringe sites identified as potential locations for the new venue.

Mr Pelligra said he wanted to build the best baseball-specific facility in the country, with plans to host international games, attract visiting clubs from Asia and potentially incorporate a sports academy to train local and international talent.



He said the stadium would enable the Giants to relocate from their existing base at West Beach, while also creating a “legacy” for the sport.

“I want to build a stadium that’s to Olympic standard, international standard – the project cost of something like this is going to be between $35m and $40m,” he said.

“We’ve started looking at potential sites and we’re getting our design team to look at what other international standard stadiums look like overseas, and then we’ll look at how that fits into the potential sites.

“For us it’s important that we get the right location. It’s going to be in the CBD fringe so that before and after the game you create that carnival atmosphere – you get the before-and-after traffic back into the CBD, which all the businesses thrive off.”



Mr Pelligra expected a preferred site to be selected within the next couple of months while he engaged with councils, property owners and current users about the feasibility of short-listed sites.

Other early options being considered include Park 27B across from Bowden, Park 17 in the southeastern parklands and Park 24 at the western end of Ellis Park.

As part of early research into potential designs, Husky Ballpark in Seattle and Jane Sanders Stadium in Oregon have been identified as examples of the type of stadium that would fit into Mr Pelligra’s vision.

From a commercial perspective, the Melbourne-based property developer said a new world-class baseball facility would allow Adelaide to tap into the popularity of baseball across key Asian markets including Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

“We want to bring students from overseas, and academies and kids from Asia, and we want to build facilities for them to train, be educated and have experiences with the stadium,” he said.

“Like they do in the US, like they do in Japan, like they do in China – we’re going to look at what they’re doing and improve it and modernise it to today.”

Mr Pelligra said partnering with other sports in a multi-purpose venue was another option being considered, as long as it didn’t “compromise” the outcome for baseball.

State government and council support would be sought to make the project stack up financially.

“I want baseball to stand on its own, and in the future I want to leave a legacy behind for the Giants to have a home that’s there for the next 100 years-plus,” Mr Pelligra said.

Mr Pelligra’s acquisition of the Adelaide Giants brought to an end three years of ownership by the Crows.

The self-confessed “sports lover” is also joint owner of Victorian National Premier League soccer club South Melbourne FC, and is planning a major upgrade of the former Titanium Security Arena after acquiring the basketball stadium earlier this year and renaming it Adelaide 36ers Arena.

Mr Pelligra has been investing heavily into South Australia since acquiring the former Holden site in Elizabeth in 2017, snapping up a number of large-scale office, health, industrial and commercial properties across the state.

WHERE THE BASEBALL STADIUM COULD GO

Some of the potential sites for a new Olympic-standard baseball stadium in Adelaide:

• Riverbank – between Royal Adelaide Hospital and River Torrens
• Victoria Park
• Mile End – adjacent to the SA Athletics Stadium
• Park 27B – parklands across from Bowden (current home of West Adelaide Soccer Club)
• Park 21 – southwestern parklands on corner of South Tce and Goodwood Rd
• Park 17 – southeastern parklands on Greenhill Rd
• Park 4 – end of O’Connell St in North Adelaide
• Park 24 – parklands at the western end of Ellis Park

[NTRabbit]

The new owner of the Adelaide Giants has outlined his vision to make Adelaide the country’s baseball capital with a new multi-million-dollar stadium at the centre of his ambitious plans.

Ross Pelligra, the multi-millionaire property tycoon who acquired the franchise from the Adelaide Crows, has already toured several potential sites for a new stadium, which would cost up to $40m to build and seat around 5000 spectators.

Victoria Park, the Riverbank precinct between Royal Adelaide Hospital and River Torrens, and a site adjacent to the SA Athletics Stadium at Mile End are among a list of CBD fringe sites identified as potential locations for the new venue.

Mr Pelligra said he wanted to build the best baseball-specific facility in the country, with plans to host international games, attract visiting clubs from Asia and potentially incorporate a sports academy to train local and international talent.

He said the stadium would enable the Giants to relocate from their existing base at West Beach, while also creating a “legacy” for the sport.

“I want to build a stadium that’s to Olympic standard, international standard – the project cost of something like this is going to be between $35m and $40m,” he said.

“We’ve started looking at potential sites and we’re getting our design team to look at what other international standard stadiums look like overseas, and then we’ll look at how that fits into the potential sites.

“For us it’s important that we get the right location. It’s going to be in the CBD fringe so that before and after the game you create that carnival atmosphere – you get the before-and-after traffic back into the CBD, which all the businesses thrive off.”

Mr Pelligra expected a preferred site to be selected within the next couple of months while he engaged with councils, property owners and current users about the feasibility of short-listed sites.

Other early options being considered include Park 27B across from Bowden, Park 17 in the southeastern parklands and Park 24 at the western end of Ellis Park.

As part of early research into potential designs, Husky Ballpark in Seattle and Jane Sanders Stadium in Oregon have been identified as examples of the type of stadium that would fit into Mr Pelligra’s vision.

From a commercial perspective, the Melbourne-based property developer said a new world-class baseball facility would allow Adelaide to tap into the popularity of baseball across key Asian markets including Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

“We want to bring students from overseas, and academies and kids from Asia, and we want to build facilities for them to train, be educated and have experiences with the stadium,” he said.

“Like they do in the US, like they do in Japan, like they do in China – we’re going to look at what they’re doing and improve it and modernise it to today.”

Mr Pelligra said partnering with other sports in a multi-purpose venue was another option being considered, as long as it didn’t “compromise” the outcome for baseball.

State government and council support would be sought to make the project stack up financially.

“I want baseball to stand on its own, and in the future I want to leave a legacy behind for the Giants to have a home that’s there for the next 100 years-plus,” Mr Pelligra said.

Mr Pelligra’s acquisition of the Adelaide Giants brought to an end three years of ownership by the Crows.

The self-confessed “sports lover” is also joint owner of Victorian National Premier League soccer club South Melbourne FC, and is planning a major upgrade of the former Titanium Security Arena after acquiring the basketball stadium earlier this year and renaming it Adelaide 36ers Arena.

Mr Pelligra has been investing heavily into South Australia since acquiring the former Holden site in Elizabeth in 2017, snapping up a number of large-scale office, health, industrial and commercial properties across the state.

Some of the potential sites for a new Olympic-standard baseball stadium in Adelaide:

Riverbank – between Royal Adelaide Hospital and River Torrens
Victoria Park
Mile End – adjacent to the SA Athletics Stadium
Park 27B – parklands across from Bowden (current home of West Adelaide Soccer Club)
Park 21 – southwestern parklands on corner of South Tce and Goodwood Rd
Park 17 – southeastern parklands on Greenhill Rd
Park 4 – end of O’Connell St in North Adelaide
Park 24 – parklands at the western end of Ellis Park

New owners looking to follow all the others into the city, with a sport that has difficulty sharing with others due to the unique size and shape of their playing area. Does Pelligra have the money and muscle to make those locations possible though?

[Patrick_27]

I think there's already a thread for this under Metro Development. Anyway, glad to see this mooted. The situation of Adelaide Giants Norwood Oval was kind of shit, I realise Norwood has been the home for baseball in Adelaide for years but having a purpose build facility for any code of sport shows a certain level of commitment to that code and its development; just think, this could be used for the domestic league, the intrastate league, the softball equivalents of these and overseas exhibition matches (seeing as this render seems to allow for more grand stands to be erected. Also, it solves one of the sporting infrastructure shortfalls if ever we were to bid for/secure ourselves a Commonwealth Games. Of the locations mentioned, Mile End will be the obvious choice, however secondary to that, corner of Goodwood Road/Greenhill Road opposite to where Adelaide Hockey Club/Burnside Hockey Club have planned their hockey pitches/stands, the end of O'Connell Street only behind where the ACC are considering a new Aquatic Centre or Victoria Park. I feel like we should keep up with coupling our sporting infrastructure together in pockets of the parklands rather than having them spread out across different parts of the city.

[SRW]

Lol, this article was either written by or ripped directly from a press release by Pelligra's PR. I love that only toward the end of the report is it mentioned that state and council support will be required (not to mention 'free' land in the form of a parklands location). It's not an unreasonable proposal but I would say the $40m budget is a massive overthrow given the amount the state is prepared to spend on higher profile sports at Memorial Drive and Hindmarsh.

[Algernon]

Lol, this article was either written by or ripped directly from a press release by Pelligra's PR. I love that only toward the end of the report is it mentioned that state and council support will be required (not to mention 'free' land in the form of a parklands location). It's not an unreasonable proposal but I would say the $40m budget is a massive overthrow given the amount the state is prepared to spend on higher profile sports at Memorial Drive and Hindmarsh.

Hindmarsh doesn't represent the total of investment into football from the SA government - there's about $20 million worth going into Gepps Cross as well. But still, relative to the size of each sport both commercially and in their participation bases, $40 million is pretty damn steep for baseball. I know from memory that there is a thriving baseball community in Adelaide, but it's firmly a niche sport and well down the pecking order.

BTW, I don't see any paklands being given to this considering what a fiasco it was to propose permanent grandstands in Victoria Park for a signature international event. The closest site they could get would be Mile End (if there's even room for it). But if you're in Mile End, may as well be at West Beach...

[Nort]

To be cynical, does the business case for this stadium add up overall, or is it (as the article seems to suggest with all the quotes about how good it will supposedly be for the immediate areas) only appealing when it comes with free public land?