Green light for Canterbury's temporary stadium
Construction starts next week.
Construction will start in Christchurch next week on a new temporary stadium to make sure the city can host major sporting and cultural events.
The temporary stadium - at Rugby League Park, Addington, will seat 17,000 spectators, including 8,500 undercover seats and several corporate hosting facilities.
Funding will be underwritten by the Government, with support from the Christchurch City Council and the New Zealand Rugby Union in order to cover the $20 million cost.
“The new temporary stadium will allow Cantabrians to experience the excitement of Crusaders and Canterbury ITM Cup home games again as well as Phoenix football matches, rugby league games, and other major sporting events, concerts and festivals,” Prime Minister John Key says.
“Today’s announcement about the new stadium is fantastic news after it was decided a few months ago that the badly damaged AMI Stadium would be closed for all of 2012 as engineering assessments continue.”
The new stadium will be finished by March in time for the 2012 Super Rugby season and the Crusaders’ first home game.
Christchurch’s new temporary stadium will be run by a Trust and is expected to have a total lifespan of between three to five years.
Robert McCambridge
Tue, 08 Nov 2011
Tue, 08 Nov 2011
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Green light for Canterbury's temporary stadium
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