Would be great for basketball- in the West it has been great, we need it to keep Bball strong

Hmmm, I wonder what will happen to the dome in that case. Is it doomed or maybe the owners have a fire sale to unload it before it is not needed by the current tenants.
And would the 6ers benefit like the afl clubs instead of hiring the dome?
And how long before Forestville move in and make it their home base ;)

My only issue would be if you don't pull most of the seats available how will the atmosphere feel with only 4k people in an 18k stadium. Also would feel sorry for the Scouts who put their cash up for the powerhouse.

Memorial Drive is the obvious choice. Upgrade that to an indoor area and next to an upgraded Adelaide Oval means a one stop shop for indoor/outdoor sport and events.

Santos stadium and Adelaide Arena become redundant for NBL and Netball. With regards to AA, church basketball and Scouts own it. I'm sure they would put it to good use.

The only problem is $$$. Where's the State Government going to get it from?

With the new RAH meaning us SA Taxpayers now pay $1M/day in interest alone, a $150M redevelopment soon blows out to be a $250M redevelopment. That's a lot of extra speeding fines SAPOL will need to collect just to cover the interest let alone repayments. The motorcycle cops will probably see their quotas lifted from 120/month to 200/month (min)!

In all honesty, does Adelaide need an 18,000 seat indoor venue? For basketball and netball, the size of the Adelaide Arena, the netball stadium and the Ent Cent are more than adequate. Same with tennis at Memorial Drive.

Like what they did to the Adelaide Oval, this is more about the State Government (and I would think the Adelaide City Council) wanting all big events to happen in the city so THEY benefit from it.

And Jack is right. The state is supposed to be broke, the new RAH is costing us more money than you can poke a stick at.....where are they supposed to be getting the money for a new stadium from???

HoldenV8 did Perth need a 13,000 Stadium?

Sure 18,000 is unrealistic but people would have thought 13,000 was unrealistic but the wildcats do a good job of filling it up almost every game.

If seats were more of a reasonable price as well as it being in the city the possibility of it getting 8-12k per game becomes a reality.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against Adelaide having a state of the art, 18,000 seat indoor stadium that can host basketball, netball, tennis, concerts etc. I'm just questioning if we really need it and where they expect to get the money from considering this state is practically broke.

Jack Toft and HoldvenV8 - if you read the article the projected time frame to get this project up and running is five to ten years, once tax receipts have picked up and the money is in the coffers.

While basketball would be better off with a six court venue, this stadium proposal will be better for the state. It will help increase our ability to host major events and bring more money back in via tourism.

Hope to see it one day.

Agree Swagger.

we're going nuclear fellas so the money will roll in around 3 years time !!!!!

I like the idea and for it -

balances out some sharing to other of the $ upgrades after football got so much.

creates employment and brings extra opportunities to s.a. (ie look at today's cricket)

there would be select times during the year that 18,000 would fill it - mainly concerts.

The dome has sold out previously to bball and ? netball - so it would be interesting how many exactly would go to the right match.

Tricky bit - no doubt retracting stands would make it viable for everyday multi court use - who gets the 6 or so courts - netball, tennis or bball ?
i.e. saturday is the big day for tennis and netball and some clash for Friday netball / bball.
so 3 courts netball fri nights, 3 courts bball.

IMO - it would need to be shared evenly no arguments.

Adelaide 36ers being in the city could prove to be of big benefit. If you make the ticket prices 15 bucks instead of 26 or whatever they are, you could get walk ins who just so happen to be in the city at the time. City is also more convenient for many people, and it means you can get your night started at the game and not have to arrange means to get to the city because you are already there. I don't think it is a bad idea at all.

Hopefully they will bring the dome's score board across just for the memories ;)

In the long run it is probably the way to go, but its not happening anytime soon due to lack of money for the State government.

The only thing that I worry about is having to watch basketball in a multipurpose stadium. The AA is such a great design for basketball with plenty of seating nice and close to the court.

Tennis is generally a different story though, with crowds sitting further back and above the action behind large walls.

Hopefully when we do finally get a CBD venue for the Sixers, the designers won't short-change basketball fans.

If its in the city, the people will come. This would be amazing for NBL basketball in Adelaide.

It reads as a bit of remark of what the future might hold. Indeed it seems a logical next/future step. At some point it would make sense to redevelop Memorial Drive into a multipurpose stadium.

I think it would be a good idea having a 12,000 seat venue, 18,000 seems a bit much. Atleast with that figure, it's around the size of Hisense, would work for any Tennis tournament we can attract, would work for international netball and netball finals, and the 36ers. It would share the overall costs which makes sense, and being in the city, it would hopefully attract more people to games (from the 36ers perspective) then before.

If I remember correctly, the minister said any potential funding couldn't be done now, but maybe around 2019/2020.

In terms of the State being "broke" or whatever, I'm not saying we can fund many major projects at once, or that we can spend spend spend, but a good government will properly understand the situation and make measured responses.

I love it when people argue with confidence something along the lines of "debt/interest repaymants=spending too much and therefore we're in big trouble".

That's not how it works. People don't realise this, but it's not relatable at all to the finances of a household. Surplus/Debt are part of the cogs in the economy, but it's not a dominating or prominent part of the financial performance/position of an economy. An economy in debt could just as easily be in a financially strong position than an economy in surplus. Purchasing power, growth, the cash rate and employment rates are all important cogs that should be mentioned along with debt (and potentially even more prominently).

A straight out argument of debt/interest repayments is an over simplification that does not reflect reality. If anyone is intent on using it as an argument with some sort of reflection of economics, it needs to be tempered with context of other cogs. For lack of doing that, people might as well not bother arguing it all together.

KET can you please go to canberra and explain that to fat joe!

Don't underestimate the effect of having a NICE venue, within walking distance of the CBD, with plenty of parking and easy car, bus, and train access.

There were usually always a few tickets available at Challenge, standing room or crappy corner seats. Now attendance has roughly tripled.

You will get a lot more "social attendees" and they help pay the bills.

The other issue for Perth, is that we nolonger had a decent concert venue. Realistically the Arena hosts more concerts than basketball games.

You probably DON'T need 18k for basketball, but I suspect that number is being driven by the need to offer a substantial increase over the Entertainment Centre.

I don't know Adelaide at all, but if you're talking about a new venue, it does raise the obvious question: Why not try moving to the Entertainment Centre?

Again, I don't know Adelaide, but I wonder if AA isn't becoming an anchor?

After making the GF last year, have you had much of an uptick in attendance this season?

As for your "state government being broke," IF a government is going to spend this money, during a downturn is actually the best time. Costs are down and unlikely to rise, and the jobs generated really come in handy.

I'm an economic conservative, and normally argue against such government expenditure, but have to accept that without the government we don't get such venues.

Would be good; if you can get your current crowds while stuck in the boondocks, you could challenge Perth's crowds if you get into the CBD and properly on the public transport grid.

going to have to be managed well - with all parties prepared to work together when programming clashes.

i.e. wasn't this is why the dome came about from the entertainment centre - too many clashes with bball dates and concerts etc

who will get domestic use ? memorial drive has been a traditional tennis strong hold - so will netball and basketball get a look in away from the big gate nights ?

i.e. will tennis have the keys and rights to it all ?

I like 12,000 seat more - I feel that is within the capabilities of adelaide for netball and bball - but are their minimum requirements for the future tournaments etc

A gf series could get 12,000 recent full house at the dome would have easily pushed 9 - 10,000 if there had been that many tickets available - 18 may push it a bit

Actually Anon #515646, you have it rather backwards.

The Entertainment Centre in Adelaide was opened in 1991. The Powerhouse as it was then known was opened in 1992.

There was a lot of speculation at the time the AEC opened that the 36ers would move there from Apollo. Brisbane, Perth and Sydney (and even Hobart) had all moved into their respective cities Ent Cents and were drawing record crowds. But the BASA and the 36ers wanted their own venue, thus what is now the Adelaide Arena was built.

The State Government own the Ent Cent and yes they did see the privately owned Powerhouse as a competitor, thus they put mass restrictions on it so their facility wouldn't lose money to it and become a white elephant. That was a bit of a conflict of interest, but no one seemed to care as basketball finally had a true home and Adelaide finally had an indoor concert venue that was "as big as Sydney's".

You know, for Adelaide's size I would say if they are going to build a new indoor stadium then one that could hold around 12 to 15,000 would probably be the way to go.

would also like to see some money put into improving local stadiums or something like campbelltown LC.
Norwood will be the rolls royce when that is finished.

um the only land the scouts have is the venue itself and 2 meters around it

all grassed area and bitchumen carparking is still owned by the council and is on former industrial dump site which has a lead content too high for residential housing, otherwise it would have been housing decades ago and not a nice grassed carpark

Sounds almost like a repeat of the football park story? The SANFL wanted their own venue so built out in the sticks, and fans spend the next 40 years complaining.

Approval and backing for the "Powerhouse/AA, etc" came from the Government when they needed an additional venue for their failed 1998 Commonwealth games bid. Everyone but the SA Bid Team knew the games were going to Malaysia but the SA Team were under the belief that the best bid would win, despite politics and backroom deals. They were, of course, wrong but we did get a new Basketball Stadium but with prohibitive usage restrictions that ultimately led to financial doom for BSA.

The article a few days ago about the mooted new multi sport venue at Memorial Drive also contained mention of a bid for the 2030 Commonwealth games. With an 8 year bid lead time, a venue would have to be planned and construction started around 2020 to be included in the bid. A City location would be great for spectators and the AA will be heading up to 30 years old by then so a new stadium may be necessary anyway.

I do recall playing at the original 1950s Forestville and then at Apollo in the first year or two - likewise it will be a brilliant and necessary step forward for both players and spectators.