I’m going to be completely honest here, I’m not really that disappointed.
I see Commbank Stadium on television and the place looks so hollow and lacking for atmosphere for club matches. I’m sure for special events it would look grand, but I just think of those empty upper bays and think… is that honestly want for Penrith?
I feel something was going to be lost in a new large format stadium and something would be lost from the intimate suburban stadium we have.
Does that mean we should be denied world class facilities? Absolutely not. I’m all on board on loading up on new and luxurious comforts, along with better access for the disabled (see my post from a while back about my ideas on fixing the northern hill pathway bottleneck).
I guess I’ll wait to see what the NSW government is proposing, but I feel this is the better outcome for Penrith.
Refurbishment is probably the way to go, upgrading the facilities & accessibility for both grandstands. Perhaps creating a wide path the whole way around the ground (similar to Bruce Stadium) will improve accessibility & movement within the stadium.
I wonder if it would be worth building a stand behind one or both ends, so that the hills can be retained.
This was from the Masked Panther in the Western Weekender this week
Stadium briefing: I’m told members of Penrith’s Board have now met with State Government officials to get a clearer picture of what the situation is when it comes to the upcoming stadium upgrade and the funding associated with it. As it stands the club is still working towards the probability of a major upgrade in 2025, which would force the Panthers to play out of CommBank Stadium in Parramatta for the year.
The government said Penrith Stadium will be refurbishment instead of redevelopment. If they win this Grand Finals than things will obvious will change they will need find way to increase crowd capacity.
The problem is that capacity can’t really be increased without relocating the stadium.
Adding seating at the top and bottom as some people on social media have suggested would actually DECREASE capacity, not increase it.
While it would be nice to have a big stadium at Penrith, from a practical and financial standpoint it doesn’t really make sense. Also with the scope of the deficit in the NSW State Budget (set to be ~$12 billion dollars in FY2023), it makes it hard to honour commitments made by the previous government.
It was clear this was blank cheque spending, and it was aimed at getting votes.
To be honest I am not to concerned about the renovation… I like Penrith Football Stadium, all it really needs to to have some ammenities, and some better routing for fans to get into the stadium and to their seats and a reasonable timeframe, upgrade some disability access issues, a revamp of the vendors for food and beverages, and a redesign and optimisation to the two stands.
I feel with a few remodelling, 25,000 would not be out of reach, a mere 5,000 seats less than Commbank Stadium at a fraction of the cost.
I believe the NSW Government is directly consulting with Panthers and Penrith Council, in time we will see what they cam up with.
For me, losing the hills in order to provide more seating would be a step backward. Those areas are clearly popular; they are the first areas to fill up when there is a big crowd. They characterise suburban grounds, which add to the tribal culture of our game. Perhaps adding a stand at the southern end, but leaving the Family Hill untouched, might be an acceptable compromise.
Plus, if our golden years are finally trashed by unrelenting salary cap pressures, with losing becoming more common again, and the crowds drop off, how will that look in a larger stadium? I can remember sitting on the eastern hill on a rainy day as part of a crowd of a few thousand - not a great feeling.
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.
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