Andrew Dickens: Every city needs a stadium

So, Auckland looks like it’s doing it again: dilly dallying in decision making about big stuff.  

A council advisory group has informed us that neither the fancy waterfront stadium nor an upgrade of Eden Park is considered feasible.  

The full council still must vote on it on Thursday, so we’ll see if anyone has some balls.   

Now by "not feasible" they mean not viable without public funding. We don’t seem to have a charitable billionaire in our midst so the dough would have to come from the public purse.  

This is a question every major city wrestles with, but other cities seem to be braver.  

This week Brisbane has casually announced a new stadium to host the Olympics, calming putting nearly four billion dollars on the line. 

We’re a growing nation. We need a venue for the events that come in 2025. Whether it’s big sport or big concerts.

We’ve seen how much fun Eden Park has been this week, three different sports in one week.  

It would be great to have a venue that’s modern, complete, and full of character.  

I love stadiums. I’m super excited about Canterbury’s Te Kaha. Forsyth Barr is great, and Sky Stadium just needs new seats and maybe a roof.  

But what do I want for Auckland?

Now first I have to admit that Eden Park has given me tickets to events, but I would be happy for the waterfront stadium to go ahead. We’d never regret it  

I’m also happy for an Eden Park upgrade, after all Sydney ripped down the perfectly functional Sydney football stadium and completely replaced it.  

But it really is time for someone to put their neck on the block and just do it.  

Every city needs a Cathedral, and every city needs an iconic stadium. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So Orkund looks like it's doing it again, dilly dealing
and decision making about big stuff. A council advisory group
has informed us at neither the fancy waterfront stadium nor
an upgrade of Eden Park are considered feasible. The full
council still has to vote on it on Thursday, so
we'll see if anyone has any balls to actually do anything. Now.
By not feasible they mean not viable without public funding.

(00:23):
So we don't seem to have a charitable billionaire in
our midst so the dough would have to come from
the public purse. And this is a question that every
major city wrestles with. Other cities seemed to be braver
this week. Brisbane casually announced a new stadium to host
the Olympics, calmly putting nearly four billion dollars on the line.
We are a growing nation and we need a national stadium,

(00:43):
and we need a venue for the events that come,
whether it's big sport or big concerts or monster trucks.
We've seen how much fun for Eden Park has been
this week, three different sports in one week. We need
a venue that's modern, complete and full of character and
recognize around the World I love stadiums. We're excited about
Cannerby's Takaha Forsyth Bar is great and sky Stadium or

(01:04):
you need new seats and maybe a roof. But what
do I want for Auckland Now? First, I have to
admit that I, like many others, have gone to eden
Park events for free, both from eden Park and also businesses. Okay,
that taken. I would be happy for the Waterfront Stadium
to go ahead. We would never regret it in forty
years time. I'm also happy for an eden Park upgrade.

(01:26):
After all, Sydney completely ripped down the Sydney Football Stadium
and rebuilt it. But it really is time for someone
to put their neck on the block and just do it.
We've been talking about this ever since the World Cup.
Every city needs a cathedral and every nation needs a
national stadium, and it needs to be iconic. Let's do it.

(01:48):
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