www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/manly-daily/plans-for-sea-eagles-homeground-to-host-music-stars-like-foo-fighters-and-taylor-swift/news-story/45218c6ef22d82488e86b8d85e898890
Will we see these stars perform at Lottoland?
MANLY
Plans for Sea Eagles homeground to host music stars like Foo Fighters and Taylor Swift
Robbie Patterson, Manly Daily
December 22, 2017 12:00am
Subscriber only
$10 million funding pledge for Lottoland withdrawnSea Eagles miss out on first cash grant
LOTTOLAND could be the venue of international rock and pop concerts and top-tier sporting codes as part of a council push to bring more revenue to the ageing stadium.
At Tuesday night’s council meeting staff were told to come back by March with a briefing into options for the usage of the home of the Manly Sea Eagles.
Liberal councillor Rory Amon. Picture: Adam Yip/ Manly Daily
Liberal councillor Rory Amon said there was an opportunity to expand the use of Lottoland with State Government plans to knock down and rebuild the city’s two major sporting stadiums.
He said he envisioned performers such as the Foo Fighters, Fleetwood Mac, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars holding concerts at Brookvale.
In November the State Government announced Allianz and ANZ stadiums would be rebuilt.
“Those developments were proposed to occur in late 2018 and early 2019. This leaves our city without any major stadiums for an extended period of time,” Cr Amon said at the meeting.
Ed Sheeran performs at Z100's Jingle Ball 2017 on December 8, 2017 in New York. Picture: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
“What that means is there will be a host of sporting and entertainment events that would otherwise occur at Allianz or ANZ which would have been their home.
“With a capacity of over 20,000 and a newly-minted B-Line in operation, Brookvale Oval has the capacity to (substitute) as northern Sydney’s sporting capital while Allianz is rebuilt.”
He said it was an idea that needed thorough investigation.
“It is a great opportunity to bring concerts, international stars, NRL games, rugby union, A-League games,” Cr Amon said.
Singer Taylor Swift performs at Z100's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. Picture: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
“All those things would be an absolute boon for the area – for the economy and tourism, those kind of things.
“We need to start the conversation around how we do it. If not, why not? But if we can, how do we do it?”
A response prepared for councillors by chief executive officer Mark Ferguson said the viability of increasing the amount and type of events would be part of the briefing.
Crowds during a trial match between the Waratahs and Highlanders trial match at Lottoland this year. Picture: Mark Evans
“The feasibility of hosting additional sporting and entertainment events at Brookvale Oval will be dependent on a range of factors, particularly the carrying capacity of the sports field and impact on nearby residents,” Mr Ferguson wrote.
“The Brookvale Oval sports field has capacity to meet current regular use, however a major upgrade of the playing surface is required to cope with any significant increase in use, due to the current soil profile and turf species of the playing surface and the need to provide an NRL standard sports field for the Sea Eagles.
“The scope, cost and timing of such an upgrade is yet to be determined, however this project would be in of order of $1 million.”
Im not sure how drunk Mr Amon was when he came up with this idea, but any extra useage Brookvale gets can only be a good thing from a funding standpoint.
