Stack the logs to make temporary terraces and just suspend shifting them on to ships during games. Everyone wins! You wouldn't even need resource consent because it wouldn't be a permanent structure.
Alternative Wellington Stadium
I was in the tron the other day and people were complaining about Wellington getting cricket world cup games because no one shows up and it's embarassing.
Then I read in the dom post today that Wellington had the highest attendace as a percentage of the population across all games.
This goes to show that even when Wellington's croud attedence are actually amongst the top in the country the venue is not the correct size for the population in most sports, it actually is a bad look for the city and even the country.
It's like the Sri Lanka games. Basin fairly full for the test matches - people described it as a great croud. The same number of people attended an ODI at the stadium - "look at all those empty seats! Why is no one at the game?"
I was in the tron the other day and people were complaining about Wellington getting cricket world cup games because no one shows up and it's embarassing.
Then I read in the dom post today that Wellington had the highest attendace as a percentage of the population across all games.
This goes to show that even when Wellington's croud attedence are actually amongst the top in the country the venue is not the correct size for the population in most sports, it actually is a bad look for the city and even the country.
It's like the Sri Lanka games. Basin fairly full for the test matches - people described it as a great croud. The same number of people attended an ODI at the stadium - "look at all those empty seats! Why is no one at the game?"
Hutt Wreck Rules.
Another place where I realised a shark tonne of space exists is next to the new Countdown in Tawa
Pros: immediatley adjacent to SH1/Tawa turn off. Very close walk from Takapu Road train station. Lots of room to build a carpark.
Cons: it's Tawa. Spectacular views of the women's prison. Absolutely no night life. It's Tawa. And again, it's Tawa.
Tawa is a wannabe Newlands?
David Dome said on the radio that Hutt Rec was disapointing in terms of croud and sales, didn't sell out for any games.
David Dome said on the radio that Hutt Rec was disapointing in terms of croud and sales, didn't sell out for any games.
That's funny, because the Phoenix said it was a 9000 capacity, and the 2nd game we managed 9200.
Log Jam Stadium with retractable roof is only option. Entry via overbridge inside exiting gates at Westpac
David Dome said on the radio that Hutt Rec was disapointing in terms of croud and sales, didn't sell out for any games.
Dome with the disappointing line again; why not say the crouds were good but a lot were put off by the atrocious weather?
So no croud is ever going to be big enough no matter where they play and how over full they get stadia. Eternally Glass half empty.
Dome with the disappointing line again; why not say the crouds were good but a lot were put off by the atrocious weather?
He was basically responding to a comment by that dipshark Veitch about why they don't look to immediately build a rectangle stadium now. From memory, Dome didn't say it was disappointing - just stating the fact that it didn't sell out and therefore a rectangle stadium isn't necessarily the magic bullet to solve all croud problems.
David Dome said on the radio that Hutt Rec was disapointing in terms of croud and sales, didn't sell out for any games.
That's funny, because the Phoenix said it was a 9000 capacity, and the 2nd game we managed 9200.
Not correct. Second game, against Newcastle, on Feb 22nd had 8437.
The first game, against Melbourne City, on Feb 14th had 9232 though.
David Dome said on the radio that Hutt Rec was disapointing in terms of croud and sales, didn't sell out for any games.
That's funny, because the Phoenix said it was a 9000 capacity, and the 2nd game we managed 9200.
Not correct. Second game, against Newcastle, on Feb 22nd had 8437.
The first game, against Melbourne City, on Feb 14th had 9232 though.
Ok. First game then... point still stands. The game over sold but didn't sell out ..
I would rather have an almost full look at Hutt Wreck than a "Where the fudge are they?" at a very yellow looking Westpac Stadium. Sorry David Dome, but on this one, we will have to disagree from a fan point of view.
The Stadium was the wrong size when it was originally built, it should never have been built to fit 35,000 people, probably 20,000 was the right size, yes this would still be bigger than needed for most events, but probably minimum size to convince the ABs to play there, and at the time we couldn't afford multiple stadiums. Looking at the numbers, in 2000 when they opened the stadium and the following year were the only times there were more than 2 events in any year over 30,000, after that most events never again made it over 25,000, and in the last 5 years there have been 14 (Non World Cup) events with crouds over 20,000, is it really cost effective to have a stadium big enough for those 3-4 events a year that need it, or should we actually have a stadium fit for the majority of it's purpose. Sorry for the long post, but needed the numbers.
In 2000 in comparison the Super Rugby games averaged 33,000, and the NPC averaged 28,000
In 2001 Super Rugby had dropped to 30,000 & NPC to 25,000
In 2005 Super Rugby was down to 25,000 & NPC to 16,000
Biggest Crouds in last 5 Years - Over 15,000 only
(Excluding 7s as their count is over 2 days, and CWC croud numbers hard to come by right now)
Those Larger than 30,000 (ABs Tests, WC Qualifiers & Phoenix Finals, 5 in 5 years) - The RWC games are also in this group
ABs vs South Africa - 35,820 (2014)
All Whites vs Mexico - 33,626 (2013)
ABs vs Aussie - 35,583 (2013)
ABs vs SA - 34,500 (2010)
Phoenix vs Jets (Finals) - 32,941 (2010)
Those Larger than 25,000 (Warriors first game in Welly in years, and other two ABs tests)
Warriors vs Bulldogs - 28,096 (2013)
ABs vs Argentina - 29,932 (2012)
ABs vs SA - 28,895 (2011)
Those Larger than 20,000 (3 Canes games none since 2012,Nix Final, 1st AFL & 4Nations Final)
4 Nations Final - 22,008 (2014)
St Kilda vs Swans - 22,183 (2013)
Hurricanes vs Crusaders - 20,248 (2010)
Hurricanes vs Crusaders - 21,871 (2012)
Hurricanes vs Chiefs - 23,539 (2012)
Phoenix vs Glory (Finals) - 24,360 (2010)
Those over 15,000 (11 in 5 years)
Warrirors vs Tigers - 18,653 (2014)
Hurricanes vs Kings - 15,111 (2013)
NZ vs England T20 - 19,598 (2013)
NZ vs SA T20 - 17,857 (2012)
Hurricanes vs Crusaders - 18,453 (2011)
Kiwis vs England - 19,389 (2010)
All whites vs Paraguay - 16,541 (2010)
Hurricanes vs Reds - 17,044 (2010)
Hurricanes vs Chiefs - 15,769 (2010)
NZ vs Aus T20 - 19,977 (2010)
Hurricanes vs Crusaders - 15,502 (2014)
Rugby World cup
France vs Tonga - 32,000
NZ vs Canada - 37,000
Arg vs Scot - 29,000
Aus vs USA - 33,000
SA vs Fiji - 33,000
SA vs Wales - 33,000
IRE vs Wales (QF) -- 33,000
Aus vs SA (QF) - 34,000
PS. I am not sure Thunderdome is ever going to be happy with Crouds...
Looking at those croud numbers and events, there is probably a need for a stadium of that size in Wellington. Without it and with 1 only holding 20k, it would severely limit Wellington as a destination for major sporting events. It's there now so we are stuck with it; a couple of outcomes required that would make it more palatable:
1. Reconfigured in some way to better serve the 90% of sports events that play there [rectangular configeration, cover, closed areas].
2. Continual improvement and reassessment of the catering rules and offer [in line with the MCG perhaps]
3. Attract more big events to the stadium
In reality, it is unlikely that a smaller stadium will be built anywhere unless fully funded commercially, as a result the stadium can charge almost as much as they want. They do need to be careful though so they don't force the likes of the Nix, Hurricanes, Lions etc to move to other locations or build their own facility.
New stadium won't happen. Best result is a reconfiguration - have seen mention of a roof too which would improve things.
The wreck is dead.
Kinda feel sorry for the stadium in one respect, No decent concerts there very often because the NIMBY's of Thorndon complain about the noise and the lights if on too late. Perhaps a roof may solve that aspect. But the whole design was for cricket and not much thought went into it. Fran Wilde allegedly being the main driving force behind having the stadium has a lot to answer for in this respect. Not just her of course, the rest of them in the design phase too.
I don't think 35k is too big, it's just the design is wrong. They could've built a 2-tier rectangular 40k seater that still looks good on tele. And for most games just close access to the top. It should just never have been an oval.
New stadium won't happen. Best result is a reconfiguration - have seen mention of a roof too which would improve things.
The wreck is dead.
I don't think 35k is too big, it's just the design is wrong. They could've built a 2-tier rectangular 40k seater that still looks good on tele. And for most games just close access to the top. It should just never have been an oval.
It never really made sense for cricket but John Morrison wasn't going to let them miss out.
Should have done what Hamilton did and invest in improving the basin and a rectangle stadium of less complexity and cost.
It never really made sense for cricket but John Morrison wasn't going to let them miss out.
Should have done what Hamilton did and invest in improving the basin and a rectangle stadium of less complexity and cost.
Those are words not heard very often....
It never really made sense for cricket but John Morrison wasn't going to let them miss out.
Should have done what Hamilton did and invest in improving the basin and a rectangle stadium of less complexity and cost.
I don't think 35k is too big, it's just the design is wrong. They could've built a 2-tier rectangular 40k seater that still looks good on tele. And for most games just close access to the top. It should just never have been an oval.
But then you're basing the building of an entire stadium on one black caps game per year that MAY get a decent croud IF the team happen to be playing well.
New stadium won't happen. Best result is a reconfiguration - have seen mention of a roof too which would improve things.
The wreck is dead.
It's already been investigated and the conclusion was that the design of the cake tin prohibits cost effective reconfiguration.
The circular nature is what gives it it's structural integrity, and to reconfigure it you'd need to pull it apart and completely re-engineer it.
The roof option alone was going to cost approx. $150 million due to the existing structure not being able to support it, so a roof would essentially have to be built external to the existing structure.
IF they decided to do that they really would be better demolishing it and building a rectangular 2 tiered stadium with or without a roof instead.
There will always be an element of risk, you just have to look at the decrease in the rugby numbers and the Phoenix too for that matter. No one has a crystal ball and so it is very hard to predict what will happen 5 or 6 years down the track. Just suppose cricket gets so big and popular again [even if its only for 4 or 5 years] and they had built a smaller stadium? that would mean a period of no big cricket matches in Wellington. I recall at the time of building the thing the consensus was that it wasn't going to be big enough and everyone was afraid they would lose All Black games there because it only held 30 odd thousand and the All Blacks could easily attract more than that. How did that pan out?.
To a degree, it was a problem that needed a NZ wide solution. Every City wants something to host the really big games (of whatever sport), when the population of NZ is such that in NZ we can really only have one large stadium and the rest all of a smaller boutique sort of size, relevant to the population of that area and the sports they regularly host.
The reality is there should be one large stadium in Auckland that hosts pretty well all All Black matches against anyone that matters, with the scraps of all other sports tossed around the 3 or 4 "regional" type stadia in the Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedins.
Cities can not afford to have large stadia sitting empty on the off chance they get a decent All Black game every two or three years
The thing is I'm sure the cricket would get better crouds at the basin simply because its a much nicer venue. The problem is they can't put in lights, although I have no idea why. The people in the apartments can just close their curtains. Games don't go past 10pm anyway.
You know, all this angst and grumpiness over the RoF makes me very glad that Auckland didn't waste money building its own on the waterfront. (None of our existing stadia are that crash hot but at least there is a choice of sizes.)
...although I have no idea why.
...although I have no idea why.
NIMBYs ruin everything everywhere. The inner-city NIMBYs in Auckland are not only the ones who wreck night-life, but who are driving house prices up by refusing to have affordable apartments built anywhere near them, thus driving poor people far away into the sticks.
In any case, I think the lesson is: multi-purpose stadia do not work.
You know, all this angst and grumpiness over the RoF makes me very glad that Auckland didn't waste money building its own on the waterfront. (None of our existing stadia are that crash hot but at least there is a choice of sizes.)
There will always be an element of risk, you just have to look at the decrease in the rugby numbers and the Phoenix too for that matter.
Apart from after the first season, when there was a large novelty factor involved, the Phoenix crouds have NOT declined though...
Graph produced courtesy of Dale (2nd Best).
Hmmm, pic display broken. Dunno why.
Can be seen at:
You know, all this angst and grumpiness over the RoF makes me very glad that Auckland didn't waste money building its own on the waterfront. (None of our existing stadia are that crash hot but at least there is a choice of sizes.)
Eden Park should have been floored years ago. No car parking within cooeee. Unless they rip up the cricket ground next to it. Oddly enough, the "Trevor Mallard" stadium on the water front replacing Eden park was probably the best option for all conerned up there. But Mallard was such a cock about it along with the Mayor up there at the time, it got abandoned.
Here's another go at my idea for rotating the pitch 90 degrees at westpac and building two new stands blocking off the old ones. I found a model of the ring of fire in sketchup online, I've never used sketchup before so forgive how crap it is:
Top down view, you rotate the pitch 90 degrees, its aprox 120x70m it might be a bit close to the stands though so the first couple of rows may need to be demolished. You build two new stands as completely independent structures with their own roof, completely obscuring the old stands, but integrating into them visually.
The space behind the new stands are aprox 50x120m, although not very useable it could be event space of a venue space.
A view from inside the stadium, the curved stands at either end of the pitch are the original stands, the straight stands along the sides are the new ones that (as I said) completely obstruct the current end stands.
Another view of the new stands.
Yet another view, this is from the existing side stands (which become the end stands) and looking at the new stands.
This is behind the new stands, not very usable but you could potentially put a stage in there for an indoor venue (espeacially if you can demolish some of the old stands, otherwise it could be exhibition space, lecture space, bars, etc.
