The Western Springs article mentioned the possibility of a waterfront stadium? Perhaps showing the regard current decision makers are held in, or that they were expecting a different result?
As for hatred for Eden Park…it’s completely rational. Even those of us who have so many good memories there. We’ve seen a well connected board playing on nostalgia trying to hoover up as many events as possible, noodle markets, Pasifika events, etc etc.
I mean in part they’ve been shafted by Sky TV becoming so powerful, demanding night games and the weakness of Auckland rugby and the NPC. But in part they’ve just shown bad faith, while appealing to nostalgia, time and again, to get at taxes and rates just to get by and not having a convincing business case.
As for hatred for Eden Park…it’s completely rational. Even those of us who have so many good memories there. We’ve seen a well connected board playing on nostalgia trying to hoover up as many events as possible, noodle markets, Pasifika events, etc etc.
I mean in part they’ve been shafted by Sky TV becoming so powerful, demanding night games and the weakness of Auckland rugby and the NPC. But in part they’ve just shown bad faith, while appealing to nostalgia, time and again, to get at taxes and rates just to get by and not having a convincing business case.
Eden Park, for a stadium with all it's history, the fond memories, and the jolly good old times in our sporting landscape, well to be honest, it's just horrendously past it's used by date isn't it?
Shark location, which packs out once or twice a year for All Blacks games + maybe a concert or two, and it's going to cost over a billion dollars to re-do? Ridiculous
Do it once, do it right, do it on the waterfront.
Would be a hell of a lot more of an experience to head to a waterfront stadium for whatever sporting event, and then casually be able to stroll into town, the bars, the restaurants just down the road. Rather than try to leave that old dog early just to try and beat traffic out of a residential neighbourhood with 40-50k others, just to head to the same part of town. I know this isn't the only reasoning, but location is a big issue in all of this.
We just can't make that link in this country can we? Just always have to go the tried and tested, rather than try something that is proven to work in a helluva' lot of places around the world.