User:Proberton/sandbox13

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium

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The stadium under construction
Location	Edwin Flack Field, Olympic Boulevard, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	37°49′31″S 144°59′2″E
Owner	Government of Victoria
Operator	Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust
Capacity	31,500
Field size	136 x 85 m
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	2007
Built	2009
Construction cost	AU$268 million
Architect	Cox Architects and Planners
Tenants
Melbourne Storm (NRL) (2010-present) Melbourne Victory FC (A-League) (2010-present) Melbourne Heart FC (A-League) (2010-present) Melbourne Rebels (Super 15) (from 2011)

The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium is an as yet unnamed outdoor sports stadium nearing completion on the site of Edwin Flack Field on Olympic Boulevard in the Sports and Entertainment Precinct, in inner Melbourne, Australia. Conceived in the unsuccessful 2004 bid for a Super 12 rugby franchise , it hosts the Melbourne Storm (NRL), Melbourne Rebels (Super 15), and A-League teams Melbourne Heart FC and Melbourne Victory, the latter sharing home games with Docklands Stadium.

The stadium provides Melbourne's existing sporting infrastructure a state of the art, purpose built rectangular stadium. Melbourne's largest stadiums- the MCG and the Docklands Stadium ( and to a lesser extent, Princes Park)- although oval shaped and best suited to Australian rules football and cricket, had been preferred to the aging Olympic Park for premier association football (soccer), rugby league and rugby union many times.

The stadium hosted its first match on 7^th May 2010, the rugby league ANZAC Test between Australia and New Zealand.

Architecture

The stadium has a distinctive "Bioframe" design, with a geodesic dome roof covering much of the seating area, whilst still allowing light through to the pitch.

The exterior of the stadium is covered by thousands of LED lights, which are programmed to display a variety of patterns and images, setting it on par with the Beijing National Aquatics Center and Allianz Arena.

Tenants

The stadium includes training facilities and office accommodation for Melbourne Storm, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne Football Club, Melbourne Heart, the Victorian Rugby Union, the Victorian Olympic Council, Olympic Park Sport Medicine Centre, and Tennis Victoria. The stadium will be used by the Melbourne Demons as their administration headquarters. The team had wanted the stadium completed by 2008 to coincide with its 150th anniversary. It will also house public bars and cafes, 24 corporate boxes, a dining room with a capacity of 1000 people, a gym and lap pool.

Capacity

The stadium was initially proposed to have seating capacity of 20,000, upgradeable to 25,000. This was due to both expected demand, and dictated by a state government agreement with Docklands Stadium that no stadiums with a capacity greater than 30,000 would be constructed in Melbourne before 2010. These plans were revised after the Melbourne Victory refused to commit to playing at a stadium of such small capacity, having achieved an average attendance of over 27,000 since their move to the Docklands Stadium in the 2006–07 A-League Season. Under the new plans put forward by the Victorian Government, a capacity of 31,500 was proposed, on the condition that the Victory sign on as a tenant. An agreement has since been reached between the two parties for the stadium to have a capacity of 31,000..

Association Football

To assist with the extended capacity, temporary stands will be erected behind the goals during soccer matches and removed during rugby league games so as to allow space for the in-goal area. Although the stadium will be built with foundations to allow for future expansion to 55,000, the roof was not designed with this in mind and so the stadium cannot be expanded without major construction works. There has also been much campaigning by Victory supporters and football (soccer) supporters in general, to have temporary terrace-style standing room installed in the design. The plan is based upon the common feature of German stadia in which the stand behind each/one goal is constructed with the option of having standing room during football (soccer) matches and normal seating for other events such as rugby league.

Rugby League

Melbourne Storm

The Storm, who previously played at Olympic Park Stadium will have the fourth largest stadium in the NRL, surpassed only by Sydney Football Stadium, Suncorp Stadium and ANZ Stadium. Included in their membership correspondence for 2010, the Melbourne Storm referred to the stadium as 'the Thunderdome' . Their previous home ground at Olympic Park had been referred to as 'the Graveyard'.

The storm have named the corporate lounges after two club champions, Robbie Kearns(169 games) and Matt Geyer (241 games).

External links

• Government of Victoria - Major Projects - Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
• Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust - Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
• Proberton/sandbox13 at Austadiums
• [2]
• Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre - Melbourne Rectangular Stadium