Adelaide 36ers’ departure from Titanium Security Arena sparks bid to sell the stadium
The departure of the Adelaide 36ers after nearly 30 years has the owners of Adelaide’s premier basketball stadium hoping to net a buyer for the arena.
West & Beaches
Don't miss out on the headlines from West & Beaches. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The owner of Titanium Security Arena is trying to sell the Adelaide 36ers’ former home and has flagged lobbying to have the site potentially rezoned for housing.
Arena Stadium Management, who control the 8000-seat Beverley stadium, has decided to sell the arena after the departure of the 36ers last October to play National Basketball League matches at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
ASM’s lobbyist and former state Liberal minister Wayne Matthew revealed the details in a submission, to state planning reforms, marked “confidential” but uploaded by DPTI to a publicly accessible website.
In the email Mr Matthew said that his client was in discussions with various parties to purchase the stadium, which is still used by the Adelaide Lightning women’s basketball team.
Mr Matthews said reason for making the planning review aware of the sale deliberations was that timing of the new planning and design code “may be followed by a request from ASM for a change of zoning of the land, should they determine that the property will not be purchased by another party for existing use”.
The stadium is subject to a land management agreement that Mr Matthew said would need to be extinguished to allow any rezoning of the property.
Mr Matthew wrote that the property’s location seven kilometres from the city and with “easy access” from Grange, South and Crittenden roads made it suitable for uses including continued use as a sports stadium and concert venue or redevelopment for housing or shops.
“ASM recognise the draft planning and design code provides a more supportive framework for the purposes of the sale of the arena than does the current planning regime,” he said.
Under the propose planning and design code – which will replace all council development plans – the stadium is proposed to be reclassified as a Recreation Zone, which would increase recreation-based redevelopment potential for the site.
Mr Matthew said his email has been marked “confidential” because ASM did not want it published while “they are in discussion with various parties for the purchase of the land”.
ASM was established in 2013 to run the arena after it was purchased by SaveTheArena and Scouts SA.
Scouts SA chief executive Dan Ryan confirmed the contents of Mr Matthew’s email. He said the ASM wanted to keep all options in finding a potential buyer for the stadium.
He said it was “reasonable” they would seek to have the area rezoned if there was no buyer.
“We’re trying to position ourselves to maximise opportunities when the time is right to leave the property,” he said.
“The reason we’re there (the 36ers) is no longer there, what we are trying to do is, quite frankly from my perspective, is make a profit for Scouts SA,” he said.
SaveThe Arena director Bruce Spangler last March headed a consortium to save the struggling Adelaide Lightning. He was unavailable for comment.
The stadium has a capital value of $2.4 million according to Valuer General figures.
It was built in 1992 as a new home stadium for the 36ers who shifted from the Apollo Arena at Richmond.
