Etihad Stadium "would be bulldozed" and a new A$1B ($740M) football stadium built next door to the Melbourne Cricket Ground "under a radical plan pushed" by Australian Football League side Collingwood President Eddie McGuire, according to Michael Warner of the HERALD SUN.
“Victoria Stadium” would boast a retractable roof and a capacity of up to 60,000.
The preferred site is at Hisense Arena, which "would be relocated above the railway lines." Key stakeholders, including Premier Daniel Andrews, "have been briefed on McGuire’s proposal to revamp the Olympic Park precinct." McGuire: “The talks are serious -- and it gives us an opportunity to decide what the next plan is for our city." Andrews: "The MCG, Melbourne and Olympic Park stadiums are the envy of the world, but in a competitive market we can’t sit back and let others pass us by." McGuire "has spent 12 months working on the concept and has held talks with the State Government, Melbourne Cricket Club, city planners, developers and financiers." The new stadium "would sit alongside the MCG, AAMI Park and Melbourne Park to form the world’s greatest sporting hub." But the McGuire master plan "is dependent on the sale of Etihad Stadium," which the Australian Football League will buy back for just A$30 ($22) in March '25.
Funds "would also be raised from the sale of public land such as the train station, infrastructure bonds and government loans" (HERALD SUN, 3/8).
