Eureka Stadium
 | |
| Former names | Northern Oval #1 and AUSTAR Arena |
|---|---|
| Location | Creswick Road, Wendouree. Ballarat, Victoria, Australia |
| Owner | City of Ballarat |
| Operator | City of Ballarat |
| Capacity | 11000 (from February 2017) |
| Field size | 159.5m x 128.8m |
| Surface | Grass |
| Scoreboard | Video-electronic (from February 2017) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1990 |
| Built | 1990 |
| Opened | 1991 |
| Renovated | 2016-17 |
| Construction cost | $15.2 million (Stage 1) |
| Architect | Peddle Thorp (Melbourne) |
| Project manager | Atelier Projects |
| Main contractors | AW Nicholson Constructions |
| Tenants | |
|
North Ballarat Football Club (VFL), North Ballarat Rebels (TAC Cup) North Ballarat Cricket Club (Ballarat Cricket Association) (1993-) North Ballarat City Football Club (BFL) North Ballarat Eagles (VWFL) North Ballarat Netball Club | |
Eureka Stadium, (formerly known as Northern Oval or more accurately Northern Oval #1), is an oval shaped sports stadium located in the Ballarat Showgrounds at Wendouree, an outer suburb of Ballarat in Australia.
History
The first oval was originally built between 1990-91 on a site formerly occupied by the Ballarat Showgrounds Harness Racing arena (1952-1966) when the North Ballarat Football Club and North Ballarat Cricket Club relocated from their original clubrooms located adjacent to Creswick Road. The original 1990 oval replicated the dimensions of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and was orientated on an East to West axis.
Until 2016 the ground had a spectator capacity of approximately 6000 that included a 400-seat covered terrace to the front of the existing North Ballarat Sports Club pavilion. Other vantage points around the main playing field had been limited due to the flat topography and lack of terraces around the site.
The arena has been used for many events whilst primarily being used as an Australian rules football and cricket venue. It hosts the Ballarat Gift (Athletics Carnival) and has been used by the Ballarat Agricultural and Pastoral Society during the annual Ballarat Agricultural Show.
The stadium is the home ground for the North Ballarat Football Club of the Victorian Football League and North Ballarat Rebels of the TAC Cup.
AFL venue
Australian Football League club North Melbourne established a partnership with the North Ballarat Football Club in 2008 and played AFL pre-season matches at the ground between 2010 and 2012 with strong attendances.
In June 2015 the North Melbourne Football Club announced their withdrawal from the Ballarat region having committed to play a percentage of their AFL 'home games' in Hobart (Tasmania) until 2021. Immediately the Western Bulldogs AFL club announced their commitment to playing a percentage of their AFL 'home games' in Ballarat from 2017 and between two and three games per year from 2018 with the option to extend the contract from 2022. According to the 2017 AFL Fixture announced late October 2016, the Bulldogs will host Port Adelaide in Round 22 in the first AFL game for premiership points.
Redevelopment
Provisional funding for stadium redevelopment was obtained during the 2014 State Election Campaign. In June 2015 the newly elected Victorian government reaffirmed their election commitment to fund a $31.5 million upgrade to the stadium and the wider Ballarat Major Events Precinct (with approximately half of this funding to be directed to the first stage of the Eureka Stadiums three stage development).[1]
The Ballarat Major Events Precinct Master Plan (Released in June 2015), provides a strategic overview for the development of the stadium and wider precinct over three stages. Concept designs for the first stage were announced on 18th November 2015 that included a new grandstand and covered terraced seating for over 5000 spectators flanking approximately half the oval and temporary construction of a 4000 capacity spectator earth terrace to increase capacity of the ground to 11,000.[2] Other first stage development works were to include re-alignment of the main oval and reducing its dimensions to replicate Melbourne's Etihad Stadium, installation of four 300 lux (VFL Football grade) light towers, and installation of a video scoreboard. In addition, the North Ballarat Number Two Oval was to be rebuilt to the same playing standard and conditions as the main oval with the original (200 lux) light towers of the Eureka Stadium relocated to the second oval.[3]
Construction of the new playing surface and installation of light towers was completed in late-March 2016. Confirmation of final designs and selection of a preferred building contractor had occurred by mid-July 2016. Major stage one construction works were commenced in late July 2016 with a scheduled project completion for late May 2017.
The Ballarat City Council is currently considering options and planning toward stages two and three of the stadium precinct in accordance with the Ballarat Major Events Precinct Master Plan, although these stages are not yet funded.[3] Stages two and three propose the construction of two additional 4-5000 seat grandstands and ongoing development of other infrastructure. Fully completed, the stadium will seat between 13000-15000.
References
- ↑ "Eureka Stadium funding confirmed". Western Bulldogs. 17 June 2015.
- ↑ "Ballarat a step closer to hosting AFL games at Eureka Stadium". Herald Sun. 20 November 2015.
External links
- Eureka Stadium at Austadiums
Coordinates: 37°32′22.3″S 143°50′52.9″E / 37.539528°S 143.848028°E
Ballarat Major Events Precinct Masterplan Final Report