Thousands of seats from old AAMI Stadium sold to community sports clubs but more still available
THOUSANDS of old seats from Footy Park have been snapped up by sporting clubs around the state keen to secure a piece of local history — and there are more still available.
- SANFL sells AAMI Stadium for $71m for housing development
- AAMI Stadium owner wants to give seats to local sports clubs
THOUSANDS of old seats from Footy Park have been snapped up by sporting clubs around the state keen to secure a piece of local history.
Almost 15,000 seats from inside the old stadium have been purchased by about 50 sporting and community groups since last year.
The seats are being sold for $5 each by Commercial and General, which purchased the site from the SANFL for $71 million in 2014.
Commercial and General project director Chris Menz said it made sense to sell the seats at cost so they could be reused by the community.
“It’s something great we can do that doesn’t cost much,” Mr Menz said.
He said the company had fielded a number of requests from people who have requested a particular seat from the stadium.
“People have got a great affection for Footy Park,” he said. “That affection is still there and owning a little piece of history is part of it.”
West Lakes Bowling Club has purchased 200 seats.
Club president Kane Coulls said the cheap seats had allowed the club to do an upgrade they could otherwise could not afford.
“Being a bowling club, we have a lot of older members and the old aluminium seats were not the most comfortable or the safest,” Mr Coulls said.
“To purchase the seats brand new would have been out of our financial realm.
“They are second-hand but we can just give them a polish.”
Club members Angelo Salvemini and Dave Pardoe borrowed a friend’s truck to pick up the seats and have been hard at work installing them over the past six months.
Mr Salvemini said the new seats looked much better and were a talking point at the club.
“We can always say we have a piece of AAMI Stadium,” he said.
There are still about 35,000 seats available to purchase before the stadium is demolished in the next few years as part of the $1 billion WEST housing development.
Where AAMI Stadium seats have gone:
Wallaroo Football Club
Lameroo Football Club
Point Pearce Aboriginal Community Club
Port Augusta Council
Kadina Football Club
West Lakes Bowling Club
Pinnaroo Football Club
Berri Barmera Council
Heathfield Netball Club