A billion-dollar Melbourne Cricket Ground makeover plan "has been pitched to the government to maintain the sport's precinct as the world's best and ensure maximum entertainment and security for patrons," according to McClure, Dowling & Preiss of THE AGE. The plan, commissioned by the Melbourne Cricket Club, "contains elevated pedestrian podiums stretching from the MCG to Richmond Station and a new hotel and health club." Stage two, of the "Sports Link Vision," would see the railway tracks between the MCG and Melbourne and Olympic Parks decked, "with open space created for events in the middle." The report said, "A new public plaza is proposed to serve as a central focal point for the precinct and effectively forming the major link between the Melbourne Park Tennis Centre and the MCG and a hotel and health/sporting club, activating the space with restaurants and bars whilst complementing the public space and pedestrian connectivity into the precinct from Federation Square." There would also be "safe and secure event zones and live sites" and some business and office space. MCC CEO Stephen Gough said that the plan was to ensure the MCG and the precinct did not "rest on our laurels" and "kept improving to stay contemporary and offer the best experience for visitors as Melbourne's population booms" (THE AGE, 5/4). In Melbourne, Rolfe & Minear reported a N.Y.-style "High Line" could be built above the train tracks that separate the MCG from Melbourne Park "under the plan aimed at breathing new life into the city’s sporting heart." The Andrews Government was on Tuesday investigating the push by the MCC and MCG Trust to "build new parkland, live sites and infrastructure next to the MCG." Gough said the government "had been handed a blueprint for better pedestrian and road access around the ground and an enhanced spectator experience." He said, "With a world-class precinct like this, you need to plan for the future about how you maintain its status." Australian Football League side Collingwood President Eddie McGuire backed the plan, suggesting there was "a lot of positivity" in making Brunton Ave "more car-and pedestrian-friendly as well as reclaiming land at Richmond station." Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said that the plan "could help future-proof the sporting precinct" (HERALD SUN, 5/4). ABC reported a feasibility study, which covers the rail corridor between the MCG and Melbourne Park, was commissioned by the MCC and MCG Trust, after a request by the State Government. MCC Communications Manager Shane Brown said that there was "no funding or timeline for construction, but added it was part of a long-term vision." Brown said that the project "could take up to 20 years to build." He said, "It's still very much at the conception stage, but it's an idea we want put into the mix when the Government and others consider the future of the sports precinct" (ABC, 5/4).