I love the suburban character of our ground, and in some ways was not looking forward to having a new ground like Parramatta Stadium in Penrith.
Accessibility & amenities upgrades are mostly what we need, and can be done much cheaper than building a whole new stadium. They could possibly be done over an off season, especially if we play our opening few games of the following season away from home.
One suggestion from the past that may have some merit, would be to build new stands behind the hills. Building over Ransley St at the northern end, and possibly a double sided stand at the southern end, to benefit the cricket ground too.
It would be interesting to see what ideas the members & fans would come up with if consulted, but I doubt that would happen.
Build a new or upgraded larger Western Stand, using some of the vacant land behind this stand.
Continue this new or upgraded western stand around one end of the ground (Southern end most likely) to meet up with the existing Eastern Stand. Effectively, you are using the $300M to upgrade/build half a stadium, but the end result is stands around most of the ground, leaving only one hill area, most likely, the northern end.
It would then have a modern Queensland Country Bank Stadium look and hopefully be able to hold around 25K. One hill would remain, helping to keep that current Panther stadium feel.
I will leave politics out of it as best I can.
In my view, if we are to just get a makeover, best to leave it as it is, as it will not be what is required going forward & in maybe 5 years it will all start again. There is a real danger that a lot of money will be spent on something that no-one will be happy with.
Before the idea came to build a new stadium on the show ground site, the Show Society (whatever the legal entity is known as) declared uncle on staying afloat and had sought options to sell the site to a developer & the deal would include the developer providing a new showground facility some where (perhaps alongside Richmond dogs. I guess it may have been somewhat along the lines of what I understand happened with the Ashlar Golf Course deal, which saw the golf course sold to a developer for residential development & a new golf course built for the members - Stone Ridge at Colbee.
So the Show Society kicked off the idea. It fell flat as Penrith Council knocked back the DA for the multi-unit residential application.
Then there was a proposal for the govt finding a new location for the Showground & building a new Penrith Stadium on the existing showground site providing public open space where the stadium currently stands. This has now been deemed too expensive & so the Penrith Stadium reverts to a ‘new’ plan, leaving the showground as it is (seeking a solution to their problems), and opening up the possibility of at some point a successful DA for residential development of the showground site, and we will end up with something that no-one will be happy with.
I saw the new showground/new stadium/ public land ‘plan’ as a once in a lifetime opportunity for the benefit of all citizens of Penrith, not just Panthers fans. I see it will not happen & the opportunity will be lost forever.
I don’t have the answers but am concerned to think that politics & BS will make the entire Penrith community worse off than they could have been. There will always something more worthy of money being spent on it, and yet there is a Stadium at Parramatta, the only thing of use in the entire place, and health, agedcare, education etc etc still need more money spent on it. A balance is needed.
Just saw that in the NSW Government Budget papers. Looks like the money is locked in and after the comments made by Brian Fletcher about a possible 2026 NRLW side, he pretty much confirmed that construction is slated for 2025.
It seems the government has committed to the original $300m commitment that was laid out some time ago, and not the unrealistic blowout estimate released before the election.
Unlike the old plan it looks like we will only have to spend a single season on the road.
I can’t wait to see the concept image they come out with sometime next year.
The budget lists the project to run from FY2023 till FY2026. This year would be for design and early works (through to June 2024), possibly with contract award. My guess is construction anticipated from June 24 - June 26.
Refurbishment v redevelopment v upgrade v rebuild etc are all just marketing play on words.
No real difference to scope one way or the other, just the spin doctors at work.
You ever watch “Utopia”? You would understand how these things play out lol.
The funds will likely allow for at very least a partial knock- down rebuild (western stand, new stands behind the Family and Southern hills, and modification / upgrade to the Eastern stand and other facilities including roofing, lighting, audio, toilets, catering and corporate facilities.
Personally, I just hope they address the pathways around the ground and the flow of attendees. In a packed game it can take longer to get from the gates to your seat than it takes to get to the stadium and find parking.
South Hill needs to be addressed on big games. There is no flow structure to many hazards this part of the stadium. But I did hear from Chris Minnis the South Hill & Family hill won’t be touched.
Headed down to Commbank Stadium to watch NSW Cup Grand Final with a mate. Thought I should check it out before our potential move for a season or two. My thoughts:
Good - accessibility, traffic flow & amenities.
Bad - very steep stands, soulless & it’s in fkn Parramatta
Attended the open training session this morning. Matt Cameron gave an update on the project:
knockdown & rebuild is no longer option
club continues to work with Venues NSW and Govt
after '24 season a refurb will be done, due to open in '26
update to Eastern stand
northern hill to remain
western stand to be updated
new southern stand to be built
NRLW team aim for '26 to coincide with new stadium opening (South stand will include facilities for the women’s team)
they will work with architect to ensure existing season ticket holders will have seats in same area as existing (not as happened with other new stadiums)
If Penrith Panthers can win Sunday night this will be only way major project will be invested and Chris Minnis might have different opinions on the project.
I doubt it. There are budgetary constraints (a lot of debt that needs paying), and there isn’t a huge demand for another large sporting venue.
The focus will be keeping it a suburban ground and giving it a modern facelift. The government already said they intend on keeping the hills (EDIT: just the one hill, the southern end seems to be getting a stand)
According to Western Weekender the development will involve demolishing and rebuilding the Western Stands and erecting a stand on the southern hill.
End of beer hill, changes to Western Stand
More detail has been revealed about the upcoming refurbishment to Penrith Stadium.
The Western Grandstand will be demolished and re-built, while a stand will be constructed at the southern end of the ground – effectively ending the ‘beer hill’ era. That will upset a lot of fans who love the atmosphere of that end of the ground, but you can’t please everybody.
The Western Stand re-construction will include a much larger Chairman’s Lounge. Let’s hope the Panthers look after those long-term members in the Western Stand with seats in the new stand, and that it doesn’t become too focused on corporate supporters. Penrith will move out of the stadium at the end of 2024 but will be back for the start of the 2026 season.
Has there been any news lately regarding Penrith Stadium. I can see that Chris Minnis has not said anything after Penrith Panthers have made it 3 premiership in row, what a grand final. I can imagine Brian Fletcher now having big discussions with Chris Minnis scope of the project.
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