Universal Love Princes Park Update

[HBF]

Such fantastic news.

Hopefully this leads to H&A games for the blokes.

Sensational.

Unlikely.
Will just be preseason games I would have thought.

 

[Lace_Out]

Then there is not much to get excited about.

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[dragonsblues]

Unlikely.
Will just be preseason games I would have thought.

You can never know though. The point should be to continue to make the ground as valuable as possible. All clubs need additional income streams and this is a no brainer.

I do find it odd (not direct at yourself HBF) that so many don't want the club to seek consultation from the members on our spiritual home? The current administration do not own the club so I'd like to see the membership consulted before they consider demolishing a stand. Shouldn't be too much to ask?

 

[agro]

It is going to be the hq of AFLW. I'm not sure what is wrong with that as there is tremendous growth potential. Don't know why the men's games need to be brought into it.

All the talk from our supporters looking for AFL games back at Princes Park is delusional.

Capacity of 20,000 is probably all they will build to, it’s only going to host AFLW games.

 

[Doro]

All the talk from our supporters looking for AFL games back at Princes Park is delusional.

Capacity of 20,000 is probably all they will build to, it’s only going to host AFLW games.

Yeah I'm not that fussed about getting men's games back there again, it went out the window in the early 00s when Jack fought the law and the law won. The AFLW is a tremendous opportunity imo, looking at the growth in participation numbers in a year, it might well grab a big hold of the female market 5-10 years down the track.

 

[ITCHY EYEBALLS]

It is going to be the hq of AFLW. I'm not sure what is wrong with that as there is tremendous growth potential. Don't know why the men's games need to be brought into it.

To be completely frank...I couldn’t care less about being the HQ of AFLW

 

[Doro]

To be completely frank...I couldn’t care less about being the HQ of AFLW

Nice. Other supporters do.

 

[Jimmae]

If the team keeps playing like this, they might be able to save on demolition costs by outsourcing it to the supporters

 

[Doro]

If the team keeps playing like this, they might be able to save on demolition costs by outsourcing it to the supporters

The full rebuild. It's a test for the supporter base. Melbourne, Brisbane, Carlton- Melbourne looks like they'll make it. I don't know if our supporter base can handle it, there'll be another melt this week..

 

[The_Wookie]

The full rebuild. It's a test for the supporter base. Melbourne, Brisbane, Carlton- Melbourne looks like they'll make it. I don't know if our supporter base can handle it, there'll be another melt this week..

You can only be promised so many rebuilds and not deliver. Its like when my uncle used to tell me that my christmas presents were in the mail every year. Eventually you realise they arent coming.

Havent come close to winning a flag in nearly 20 years. Every other coach has had a rebuild. Every other administration has promised big things. And theres no sign of change. Drafting exciting kids, burning them out, while surrounding them with hasbeens and wannabes from other clubs has been our modus operandi since 2002. And then on the off chance they do deliver, bundling them off to any club that batts their eyelids at them.

Now we can sit back and watch while we pull a Luke Livingston on Weitering. because History always repeats these days.

 

[Doro]

You can only be promised so many rebuilds and not deliver. Its like when my uncle used to tell me that my christmas presents were in the mail every year. Eventually you realise they arent coming.

Havent come close to winning a flag in nearly 20 years. Every other coach has had a rebuild. Every other administration has promised big things. And theres no sign of change. Drafting exciting kids, burning them out, while surrounding them with hasbeens and wannabes from other clubs has been our modus operandi since 2002. And then on the off chance they do deliver, bundling them off to any club that batts their eyelids at them.

Now we can sit back and watch while we pull a Luke Livingston on Weitering. because History always repeats these days.

Thats the thing though. We bulldozed the place at the end of 2015. It was always going to be tough because our culture doesn't feature heavily in patience and resilience in tough times. The biggest issue is a lot of supporters are very insular in their league wide views, Gold Coast are s**t..Collingwood are s**t.. north are s**t.. If we don't beat them then burn the place to the ground. The expectations from non Carlton supporters this year were largely bottom 4 for us. So it is, injuries not helping again. My only fear is the process being pushed aside for the impatience of the past. The system doesn't allow it when starting from our 2015 list postition.

 

[DangerousD]

We need a definitive answer from the AFL, will there ever be the possibility of playing AFL games there in the future.

This has been addressed many times by the AF: and our own club, its not happening. The funding for PP is to make it the home of womens footy.

 

[The_Wookie]

Summary to date
___________________________

The Carlton football clubs 2015 Annual Report stated that the Board had initiated a review of Ikon Park and in 2016 the club would be releasing an exciting master plan that will ensure its future. "The Princes Park precinct will forever be in our DNA".

In February 2016, The Age reported that the primary focus of Carlton's master plan for Princes Park wasn't restoring it as a home-and-away venue, rather it's what the precinct as a whole would look like. The article said that while the Blues were open to the ground hosting AFL matches, it was more likely that the ground would be an elite training facility for its womens side, amongst others - AFL Victoria, AFL umpires and the AFL Victoria women's academy are already based at Ikon Park.

Carlton CEO Steven Trigg is remaining realistic, saying there are some key hurdles the Blues would need to overcome.

“Right now, there are two key impediments,” he said. “One is a very significant cost to get it up to standard. If you look at it, standing at the middle of the ground, you would say it’s doable. But it’s all of the infrastructure at the back of house. I can’t put a number on it, but it’s beyond what people would think. It’s a very big number. The second thing is that the AFL has to have a will and a want to program games here. At the moment, I think there’s some continued strategising about what happens at Etihad before we get to whether or not we decentralise from the MCG and Etihad or not.”

On March 30, 2016, AFL.com.au reported that Carlton hoped that Princes Park would become the new home of the fledgling AFLW competition. Carlton CEO Stephen Trigg said the ground at Ikon Park would not need much of an upgrade to host women's games, with any redevelopment to focus on the venue's grandstands and changerooms.

In terms of it again being a fully fledged AFL venue, the message from the Blues was "never say never". Trigg said the Blues were "open" to reactivating the ground but he would not speculate on what an upgrade would cost. Industry speculation was that it would cost more than $100 million.

Asked whether Carlton would consider championing Ikon Park as an alternative AFL venue, Trigg said the Blues were "not absolutely bashing the door down for that to happen" given the AFL had given no indication it would fixture games there.

On February 5, 2017, the Heraldsun reported that Carlton will “never say never” about returning home games to Ikon Park because of the ground’s phenomenal pulling power, but the Blues said the AFL had made it known its priority was to revamp Etihad Stadium rather than invest in a boutique stadium. Carlton chief executive Steven Trigg said the retention of the venue’s stands and sense of history was one of his priorities.

Trigg said Carlton fans had to realise it was the AFL that made the scheduling decisions on venues.

“We can have the greatest intentions in the world, but if the AFL don’t fixture a game there, it’s a moot point,” he said. “Who knows in years to come? Right now the AFL won’t support fixturing games at Ikon Park, particularly having purchased Etihad Stadium. We would never say never but there are other stakeholders to consider.”

On February 27th, 2017, The Age reported that the "overwhelming success" of AFLW at the ground had caused the AFL to consider fast tracking plans to upgrade parts of Princes Park into a more modern facility capable of hosting AFLW matches, AFL preseason matches, and even possible AFL season matches. The Age reported that the AFL and State Government were likely to chip in for the proposal which would be likely to include new change rooms, resurfacing and permanent lighting.

In October 2017, The Age reported that the State Government was still considering proposals, and that the Blues had held talks on the development at State and Federal levels. A decision was expected by the end of the year.

"That [AFLW] is also a matter for the AFL. Ikon Park is pretty good but that's up for discussion. There are some various ideas about where all that should be. Maybe it's a couple of grounds that will accommodate [AFLW]," Sports Minister John Eren said.

On March 22nd, 2018 the Heraldsun reported that the Blues had a $50m masterplan that included a 22,000-seat stadium transformed with elite women’s facilities and retractable light towers. The plans included

• the Pratt Stand would be knocked down.
• The 109-year-old Gardiner Stand would be preserved given its heritage listing and historical significance.
• Ikon Park would house facilities for the AFLW and VFLW teams and allied health facilities.
• The 21-year-old Legends Stand would remain to ensure the ground was ideal for AFLW and JLT games.

Carlton chief executive Cain Liddle told the Herald Sun that the Blues had ambitious plans.

“We want to pitch this as the home of the AFLW, where the Grand Finals should be played and big games should be played,” he said. "We are just on the fringes of the city, we are right on the gateway to the northern corridor which is a really strong female football corridor. We will need to invest in this but we want to try to address our facilities as well which nowadays can become outdated pretty quickly. We would hope we can get started on something like this 18 months or two years down the track. It’s not a 10-year pipe dream, it’s something we want to get cracking on.”

On April 12, 2018 the State Government announced $20m in funding for Princes Park to develop womens facilities. The Blues revealed that as part of the Masterplan, the Club intends to demolish facilities in the south-west corner of Ikon Park to make way for additional elite facilities, including an education hub and administration area to cater for the expansion and growth of female football and the broader Carlton Football Club.

References

• "Carlton's Princes Park master plan not primarily focused on AFL return" (Age, 29/2/16)
• "Blues want Ikon Park to host women's league" (AFL.com.au, 30/3/16)
• "Carlton still hopeful of return to spiritual home at Princes Park" (Heraldsun 5/2/17)
• "Princes Park poised for major facelift" (Age, 27/2/17)
• 'Victorian stadium upgrade plan likely by end of year, says state government" (Age, 11/10/17)
• "Carlton is planning a $50 million redevelopment of Ikon Park to make it the home of AFLW" (Heraldsun, 18/3/2018)
• "Record Investment In Women’s And Community Sport" (premier.vic.gov.au 13/4)
• "Ikon Park's $20M boost" (Carltonfc.com.au 13/4)

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

Best summariser ever.

 

[The_Wookie]

Looked for this masterplan the club has for half the night. Cant find it anywhere sadly.

 

[teagueyubeauty]

Then there is not much to get excited about.

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Well there is, been to Windy Hill or Vic Park lately?

 

[Sammoll]

Just stumbled across this photo. Looks like this is the plan for the Pratt stand, with no change to the heroes based on the reflection in the window.

 

[Jimmae]

ugh

 

[Lace_Out]

There goes more seating.

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[Honour]

Ugly...why can't they build the facilities they want within/behind a new stand structure? Then everyone's happy. This insistance on reducing capacity...this either/or thinking makes little sense to me. At least build a hybrid structure.

 

[found object]

Ugly...why can't they build the facilities they want within/behind a new stand structure? Then everyone's happy. This insistance on reducing capacity...this either/or thinking makes little sense to me. At least build a hybrid structure.

This.

By only having a walkway and reduced seating with the existing training facility behind the goals at the ‘Carlton’ end, there’s little supporter noise and kills the atmosphere it once had.

 

[Red Bull]

Carlton will never play for points again at the ground .
With that in mind , if we can gain funding to make it the best possible training base it can be , that's gotta be a win for the club I suppose.

 

[Sammoll]

Ugly...why can't they build the facilities they want within/behind a new stand structure? Then everyone's happy. This insistance on reducing capacity...this either/or thinking makes little sense to me. At least build a hybrid structure.

Watch the video at the top of this article: (link) or see the attached photo below.
It shows the inside of the Cat's new stand at Kardinia Park. We don't have as much room to work with nor as much budget but we won't have to worry about the supporter and corporate facilities as much as it will primarily be a training facility. I think something somewhat similar to that would be ideal in terms of maintaining seating and attractiveness of the stadium while still having adequate training facilities within and under the stand.

 

[found object]

Carlton will never play for points again at the ground .
With that in mind , if we can gain funding to make it the best possible training base it can be , that's gotta be a win for the club I suppose.

Yes, a better training base will always be welcomed, but I was referring to the AFLW matches I've been to. Even at capacity for the first match last year, it was very quiet behind the goals.

 

[Honour]

Watch the video at the top of this article: (link) or see the attached photo below.
It shows the inside of the Cat's new stand at Kardinia Park. We don't have as much room to work with nor as much budget but we won't have to worry about the supporter and corporate facilities as much as it will primarily be a training facility. I think something somewhat similar to that would be ideal in terms of maintaining seating and attractiveness of the stadium while still having adequate training facilities within and under the stand.
View attachment 486875

Yes, the Cats seem to have got it right.