New $50m aged-care plan for old AAMI Stadium unveiled as demolition starts

A NEW $50 million, five-storey aged-care complex has been unveiled for the northeast corner of the Football Park site — as demolition on the old AAMI Stadium starts.

• Old AAMI Stadium seats sold to community clubs
• First stage of $1bn WEST development
• First look at West Lakes stadium makeover
• ‘We stayed up all night for a slice of Football Park’

WORK to demolish Football Park at West Lakes has begun, with a new $50 million five-storey aged care development announced for the site.

UnitingSA has announced plans to build a five-storey development designed to cater for up to 120 older residents on 6600 sqm of land fronting West Lakes Boulevard.

The Uniting SA complex will have three levels of residential aged care with 108 private rooms and an 18-bed support unit for people with dementia.

The top floor will contain 17 two-bedroom apartments for retirees with balconies overlooking the lake.

The ground floor will include a public cafe, hairdresser and healthcare services.

Artist impression of the UnitingSA $50 million aged care home planned for the northeast corner of the old AAMI stadium site.

Each floor will also have a communal dining room, lounges and sitting areas — all within walking distance of the West Lakes Shopping Centre, library and a local cinema.

There will also be shops on the ground floor of the complex.

“Aged-care sites are often found in suburban backstreets but this development changes that and brings residents into the vibrant hub of the community,” UnitingSA chief executive Libby Craft said.

“The innovative design invites the wider community to come in to enjoy the

ground-floor shops and services, while also making it easy for residents to get out among

the action.

“With everything at their doorstep, residents will be able to easily access parks, shops, cafes and health care — as we age, this is more important than ever.”

Commercial and General project director Chris Menz said demolition started last week — although initial work would mainly be internal so passers-by may not see the outside of the stadium coming down for a few weeks.

“After about three or four weeks you will begin to see much more significant work happening, which is work to pull the building down,” Mr Menz said.

“It will start with the single-storey section in front of the Crows headquarters because it’s straightforward and small, and then we’ll move around to the southwest.”

The Adelaide Crows headquarters, the Checkside Tavern and the playing surface will be stay at the oval.

“Apart from that everything is going, including the light towers,” Mr Menz said.

“About 35,000 seats have now been provided to local sporting clubs and community clubs, so that has been really great to see because some of them were in really great condition.

“A lot of the rubble from the stadium is going to be crushed and used in road bases and for other significant projects.

“ Mr Menz welcomed the UnitingSA plan.

“Its visionary design ... will set it apart from other developments of its kind in the state.”

Mark Hayward (UnitingSA Executive Manager Property and Housing), Libby Craft (UnitingSA CEO) and Chris Menz (Commercial & General, General Manager Communities) at the site of the proposed $50 million aged-care home in West Lakes.

The SANFL sold the AAMI Stadium precinct to developers, Commercial and General, for $71 million almost three years ago.

More than 200 apartments have been sold already as part of the company’s $1 billion West housing estate for the site, with a fifth complex now being built.

“We always thought that there was a market for apartments but what has surprised me personally is the premium apartment market is definitely there,” Mr Menz said.

The UnitingSA complex is expected to provide 400 construction jobs and 100 ongoing jobs.

The interior is likely to include nods to the site’s 40-year history as the home of South Australian football.

Plans will be lodged with Charles Sturt Council in the next couple of weeks and, if approved, construction is expected to begin early next year.

Mayor Angela Evans said she was sure the complex would be approved and that the council “value the contribution elders make to our community and is

strongly committed to supporting them to live their lives with independence and vitality”.

Football Park — which had a seating capacity of about 51,000 — hosted SANFL matches from the year it opened in 1974 until the end of the 2013 season.

AFL began there with the Crows’ debut in 1991, also ending in 2013.

It cost $6.6 million to build — about $60 million in today’s money.