$40-45 Million Soccer Specific Stadium - Petone Phoenix

With Gareth Morgan shit does not happen.... He talks plenty, but how often are his Pet projects  carried out beyond mere ideas / press bites / ramblings? 

Maybe this will happen . I am still firmly in the "no Chance camp" at present.

Even if it were a goer this would still be at the very least three years off at a guess. Hutt City would need to amend their district plan to accommodate a stadium in the area, Resource consent applied for then approved, which in itself could take years with every Tom Dick and Harry having the opportunity to object because the lights may be on at 9:15pm, then construction period of probably at least a year.

Yes you are right. This is Wellington.....Absolutely Positively Nothing happens!  

Tyler Boyd will have retired of old age before this gets through the Resource consent process. What is the time frame for the Airport extention?  8 years for consultation/consent. This will go the same way as the Marine Education Aquarium Centre, the Hilton Hotel, the Conference Centre and just about every other proposal in Wellington. Every dick head with an axe to grind will swarm all over it and try and shut it down. I can just see the Consent issued. Yes you can have your stadium....But no chanting..LOL.  I was in business in Wellington for 20 years and the smartest thing I ever did was move out of town....stuff happens elsewhere. Its no wonder the PM said Wellington is dying.  End of rant sorry!!!!!

Radio Sport reporting in their news that Gaz is "unveiling plans" today for a Petone stadium (midday presser - he luvs it).

As a valued partner and member of the Wellington Phoenix, we wanted you to be first to hear of an exciting new venture.

At midday today, the Hutt City Council will announce plans for a new boutique football specific sports stadium based at the current Petone Recreation site.

While the Wellington Phoenix has at this stage only made a conditional commitment to moving to the proposed arena, Wellington Phoenix Chairman Rob Morrison and co-owner Dr Gareth Morgan said today that it is an exciting proposal that could deliver a fan centric and financially attractive model that is vital to securing the on-going financial viability of the Club.

“A purpose built football stadium has to be an attractive proposition for the Phoenix and although there are clearly a number of hurdles to be overcome, this is a proposal the Phoenix is keen to support” Morrison says.

“The Phoenix’s number one stated objective from day one has been to make the club financially viable so as to leave a legacy for football in New Zealand.

"Any proposition that could make a material difference to the financial stability of the club has to be taken seriously.

“Westpac Stadium is a great ground for big crowd games but when the club is only averaging 7,000 to 8,000 crowds, then financially Westpac Stadium doesn't work.”

Dr Morgan says by changing to a stadium with a lower cost structure and one that has the ability to deliver an unrivalled fan experience, it will enable the Club to play more games overall in Wellington.

“We have to re-invent the game-day experience for fans and the start of that process is an arena fit for purpose, where the fans get up close and personal to the action with a ground tailored to the needs of a football audience.

“We must follow the modern day trend for football stadia internationally which shows the successful ones are intimate and designed to really amplify the fan experience.

“Only by building a 12,000-15,000 seat football specific stadium with state of the art technology will the fans turn up in sufficient numbers to safeguard the financial viability of the Club long term.

“This new arena promises this and while there is a lot more work to be done, we’d be crazy not to investigate the potential further”.

Besides a match day venue, the project plan includes a children’s play areas and it will be structured to allow community groups to be part of the arena experience with food stalls and entertainment.

The Petone site is attractive as a development for its excellent transport hubs – it has two adjacent train stations and there’s plans for a Tawa to Petone road link – but also due to a number of valuable partnerships situated nearby.

Weltec, which sits next door to the site, offers potential education opportunities for the Club and Capital Football’s Memorial Park venue is just down the road - an important component of the amateur game in this region.

If the proposed arena goes ahead and the Phoenix can reach agreement on a partnership model, Dr Morgan says that Westpac Stadium will still play an important role as a Phoenix venue.

“Our on-going relationship with Westpac Stadium is critical for us.

“Our plan as a club is to dominate the A League and as we realise that ambition we will be getting more and more finals-type games in Wellington as well as visiting overseas clubs.

Westpac Stadium will be our venue for those big crowd games.”

If the proposal proceeds, construction on the project is scheduled to begin later this year with the arena potentially ready for the 2016/17 Hyundai A-League season.

Thank you again for your ongoing support.

Best regards,

David Dome
General Manager,
Wellington Phoenix FC.

I love Gareth Morgan.....with him shit happens. 

The management at Westpac must be spewing....especially if the Wellington Lions buy into this as well. I thought this all was a ruse to pressure Westpac for a better deal. One thing is certain Welnex would not enter into this unless the numbers stack up. If they are losing money at Westpac then its a no brainer to look at alternatives.

Great concept.

Wrong location.

I respectfully disagree RR.

Vacant land and easy parking does not (solely) a good location make... and there's bugger all else going for it.

like Im going to double train to this new venue.

like Im going to double train to this new venue.

You can see my place in those pictures.

I suspect the Nimby's would burn it but you could quite reasonably pub crawl Jackson St. from Petone Station and back.  Jackson St. would be good support and it's very close to Jackson St.

Personally I don't think the Hutt is the right spot but I like the design (yay for Rooves) and the location has grown on me.

Shame we can't build that plan on the waterfront.

Wow!....everyone presses the default negative button before they even hear all the details.

Fact 1....the club loses money at Westpac

Fact2.....the owners say they won't keep forking out to cover for losses 

If the club can find an alternative venue whereby match day revenue covers operating costs means the  the club will still be around in 30+ years time and not have to rely on being propped up by rich owners. Finding more financial viable boutique venues is a debate that has been happening in the A-League for quite a while.

I suggest every one wait to see the whole proposal before trashing it. 

As a fan I think its a great idea. I am happy to travel to Petone if it means I get to sit in a proper rectangular football stadium. Believe me the difference in match day experiance will be 1000x better than Westpac......... Bring it on!!!!! 

Sidenote... are there any architecture projects in Wellyfornia that W&M aren't involved in? They're everywhere!

Can't we just build the new stadium inside the ROF......?

DomPost says $44M to $48M, with $25M from Hutt City Council.