Eureka Stadium (Mars Stadium)

Remove this Banner Ad

RooBlu said:
It is interesting that the Bulldogs President is confidently talking of a sell out. All indications are that the ground will hold around 12,500 (including about 5600 seats) at Stage 1. My guess is that the Andrews Government will try to milk as much political mileage from the grand opening and that the Premier and key ministers will be there at Game 1. I can picture him perhaps declaring the ground open and announcing before a packed house and on national TV their commitment to fund further develoment.

That's politics and that's the way that our political leaders like to announce things, with as much exposure and fanfare as they can muster. Realistically once they agree to fund Stage 2 then if construction was to commence around October 2017, then by around May/June 2018 Eureka will be a 9600 seater with standing room for around 4-5000.

The Mayor of Ballarat and the North Ballarat President are truly talking about the ground being as good as they can make it, being a truly boutique ground where spectators will pre-book their tickets. In time the council will have the other supporting infrastructure to make a day at Eureka completely hassle free.
Click to expand...
Final capacity will be around 30k once all stages are complete, yes?
 
RooBlu said:
No because that would defeat the purpose of the ground. There's no business case that says that a 30,000 capacity ground would be viable unless the ground was being used at least 13 times a year for AFL as in the case of Simonds Stadium. Realistically, Eureka Stadium is planned to have a final capacity of around 15,000 once all three stages are completed. That said, further afield, if the North Ballarat Sports Club was redeveloped and the new North Eastern terrace were to be expanded by adding a further 12 rows of seating at some point in the future then Eureka Stadium would become a 20,000 seat ground. What would drive that would be if the appeal of the ground widens.

Even the 20,000 capacity Aurora Stadium in Launceston seats only 13,000 and the other 7000 stand. Manuka Oval holds 13,000, Cazaly's Stadium 13,000, the TIO Stadium 13,000. It would be crazy for the government to commit to anything beyond what is being proposed when they don't even know if it will work yet or if the AFL are prepared to commit to it for the long run. Ballarat can sustain and come close to filling a 15,000 seat ground for its own Grand Finals, NAB Cup games and the ocassional one off events such as one day cricket games, military tattoos, band displats etc. which Eureka has hosted before. 15,000 capacity is a good planning figure, what would justify further expansion to 20,000 is if the Bulldogs were to commit to perhaps 3 games per year after 2022.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. All those are considerable distance from the teams home base thought. The Dogs have 40k members and the ground is an hour drive away. That's all.
 
Maybe over time other teams can play a home game at eureka ? Like north, Geelong, st Kilda ? Also will they change the name from Eureka stadium to a sponsored name? Could then refer to the area as eureka park or sporting precinct like Kardinia park
 

Log in to remove this ad.

RooBlu said:
Was called 'AUSTAR Arena' before being named as ES so adopting a sponsorship name wouldn't be out of the question. Consider that Ballarat is home to Mars Confectionery, McCains frozen foods, numerous construction companies, Monier Bricks and Building products, and North Ballarat's major sponsor is Selkirk Bricks.

It isn't out of the realm of possibility that it could eventually become Mars or McCains Stadium.
Click to expand...
THE CROWS BROUGHT BACK DOWN TO EARTH BY THE BULLDOGS AT MARS STADIUM. Journo's salivating at the puns available.
 
RooBlu said:
Yeah ... not sure why they ever renamed it after the AUSTAR Deal finished, because Eureka is not a corporate name and in fact in Ballarat, Eureka is a suburb several km away in East Ballarat. It probably should just be called the Northern Oval. If it were named after the North Ballarat Sports Club's primary sponsor then it would be called "Selkirk Stadium".
Click to expand...
A poll was done ages ago I remember reading and people preferred eureka stadium over northern oval since the vast, vast majority of people in Ballarat hate the north Ballarat football club. The Roosters for this reason have never felt universal love in the city.
 
JD Tomahawk said:
Maybe over time other teams can play a home game at eureka ? Like north, Geelong, st Kilda ? Also will they change the name from Eureka stadium to a sponsored name? Could then refer to the area as eureka park or sporting precinct like Kardinia park
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if Geelong would do that considering the money they are pumping into their own upgrade. They will be pushing for 9 at SS and 2 at the G.
 
RooBlu said:
Okay folks my rather amateur(ish) attempt at photoshopping using an Android tablet, but I actually don't reckon that it is too bad as it gives a pretty clear idea of the scale and environment of Stage 1. It will look great eventually with another stand on the near side to give it balance.

ES%20Impression_zpsqqki1bgv.png
Click to expand...

I know we're only playing 2? 3? Games there next season but I feel it's a bit too small


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Good idea to play it round 22. Give the ground as much time as possible to get it up to scratch, and what sort of allure would this game have in round 7? It'll be getting cold, whereas there's a half-chance of an alright day during early September. And who knows, maybe it'll even end up being an important game with Port needing it to make finals or the Bullies trying to finish top four.
 
Planning to come to this game considering we play Melbourne at the MCG the day after

Wondering how long does the train ride from Stn Cross take and how far the ground is from train station and when tix would go on sale
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

FootyJunkie said:
Think it's easier for SAians to make the drive over?
Still a 6 and a half hour ride from Adelaide.
Click to expand...

Marginally easier, and those who have done the drive before are familiar with Ballarat (in fact, there's even a sign welcoming them!), might make a small difference.

It's not just that, dogs home crowds against teams from Perth and Adelaide have traditionally been on the low side.
 
FootyJunkie said:
Train ride from Sthn Cross to Ballarat station is about 90 min from memory.
Click to expand...
Melbourne to Ballarat is about an hour and a half. Ground is about a 15 min walk from train station - or a five minute cab ride. Would be surprised if council don't put on buses from train station to ground on the day.
Make sure you rug up - Ballarat in August can be, let's say, challenging.
 
Gigantor said:
Marginally easier, and those who have done the drive before are familiar with Ballarat (in fact, there's even a sign welcoming them!), might make a small difference.

It's not just that, dogs home crowds against teams from Perth and Adelaide have traditionally been on the low side.
Click to expand...
Working at a major tourist attraction in Ballarat I can assure we we always get good crowds of South Australians when the Crows or Port play in Melbourne, with Port playing here is should be even better!
 
RooBlu said:
That is the plan, the hill on the South-Eastern boundary is only intended to be temporary for a few years. The completed ground will see the main stand ring around 60% of the perimeter.
Click to expand...
I'd like to see a grassy hill with nice trees left somewhere around the ground when this happens. Adelaide ovalesque.
 
They were just talking about the bulldog game in Ballarat next year on SEN. KB reckons the ground won't be big enough if it can only fit 11k. Have to agree with him.
 
RooBlu said:
Nobody is arguing that 11,000 capacity is too small, but it will only likely be that way for the first game and at the end of the day, people will only get into that game by booking in advance. Consider that the actual ground capacity will be around 12500, but to comfortably accommodate people they will initially cap it at 11,000 so as not to create too many snarls on the day.

We also have to remember that getting the game to Ballarat by 2017 was a political decision. The State Government gave an undertaking that AFL would be played in Ballarat by 2017. They were never going to get the first game happening in 2018 because that is an election year and they would want to maximise the political exposure and advantage over at least two seasons.

At the moment 11,000 capacity is all that could realistically be achieved in the timeline (and it has been an ambitious timeline to say the least). If we consider that 14 months ago (in August 2015) the ground was orientated in a different axis, had a completely different surface, older lighting and no outer spectator amenities what so ever except at the Social Club pavilion.

640px-Eureka_Stadium.jpg

Above: Eureka Stadium in its 2015 configuration (capable of holding 8000 (7600 standing))

Within 20 months (by May next year) they will have built it up to Stage 1 (actual 12500 capacity with a new surface, new pedestrian and standing zones, over 5000 covered seats, new lighting and video scoreboard) for a little over $15 million. What will have been achieved by May 2017 will be nothing short of miraculous and to expect anything more to have been built within the allocated budget and the time line would have been nigh on impossible.

That said, capacity will definitely increase sooner (probably in time for the 2018 games) rather than later. One would most likely expect an announcement of Stage 2 funding before the first AFL game next year and that once the August game is over, they would immediately commence carving up the south-eastern boundary to commence construction of a second 4000-5000 seat stand (which is projected to cost around $10 million). If they stick with the same builders and same plans as for Stage 1 then it is likely that they could have that second stand completely built within eight months and have it completed in time for the 2018 football season so that the ground can host it's two scheduled 2018 games.

If they were to follow a similar pattern and building schedule in late 2018, then feasibly Stage 3 could be constructed and ready for the 2019 season. It's all speculative on my part, but it is realistic and most likely how it will play out.

The Ballarat Council for its part will likely concentrate on ongoing roadway and parking improvements around the ground between 2018-2020.
Click to expand...
Thankyou you couldn't have explained it any better. Hopefully there is no government road blocks along the way and all runs smoothly.
 
Sucks about the Roosters. First Bendigo now Ballarat, maybe. Does this have any impact on the stadium Roo?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The Victorian
New 15,000 seat Newcastle Stadium proposal
2
Replies
26
Views
4K
RedV3x
RedV3x
E
Third Stadium in Melbourne
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
133
Views
13K
catters05
C
BanquoUtd
Stadium proposals for Darwin team
Replies
1
Views
1K
Johnny Bananas
Johnny Bananas
M
Hobart Stadium: $750 million cost
13 14 15 16 17
Replies
409
Views
27K
Mitchell Madness
Mitchell Madness

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top