SA Premier Steven Marshall details plans for $700m indoor entertainment, sports and events arena for Riverbank Precinct

Steven Marshall has announced the details of a $700m indoor multipurpose arena, first revealed today by The Advertiser. See designs and a video fly-through of the interior and exterior.

Premier Steven Marshall has outlined plans for a $700m multipurpose indoor arena for sport, entertainment and conventions to be built between Adelaide’s railyards and the River Torrens, as revealed by The Advertiser.

Releasing concept drawings and video of the plans, Mr Marshall revealed an underground tunnel below the Morphett St bridge would provide a direct link between the 15,000-capacity arena and the Adelaide Convention Centre.

Mr Marshall confirmed the new arena would replace the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, at Hindmarsh, and be capable of hosting court sports including basketball, netball and tennis.

But he said construction was not expected to start for another four years – in 2025.

An artist’s rendering of the exterior of the new arena.

How the new arena will look from the River Torrens, alongside the Convention Centre.

Mr Marshall, speaking at a Property Council lunch, also confirmed the arena would be built immediately west of the Morphett St bridge, saying final costs would be released later this year after further consultation and technical work.

He said the arena would help SA attract many of the conventions and concerts that currently went interstate, because Adelaide did not have a suitable venue to accommodate them.

“We’ll massively increase the capacity that we have for sporting events, and also for entertainment events here in South Australia”.

“We’re losing too many major conventions here in South Australia to interstate venues because they are much larger,” Mr Marshall said.

“Too often, international artists are flying over the top of Adelaide because we can only get 7500 or 8500 people into the Adelaide Entertainment Centre,” he said.

“This new facility, the Riverbank Arena, will double that capacity to 15,000 sq/m which means we will get those top acts into South Australia and we won’t have the leakage of South Australians going to Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane to see their favourite artists.”

By late Friday morning, an Advertiser.com.au poll had more than 2600 respondents – 56 per cent said Adelaide needed a new arena while 44 per cent said it did not. Another poll of more than 2200 respondents found 68 per cent believed the Riverbank site was the right location, while 32 per cent were opposed.

The arena will host music events and will replace the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

It will also host a range of different events, including sporting matches.

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said a new arena would “obviously generate great economic, social and cultural outcomes for the city”.

Business event organisers said the venue and its construction would be a boon for the state economy, while parklands advocates decried any encroachment into open space.

Speaking at Property Council lunch, Mr Marshall said the significant 5600 sqm increase in convention space created by the arena would allow SA to compete for major international conferences and events for which the state now could not.

“This project will create jobs for South Australians and help cement Adelaide as one of the most liveable cities in the world,” said Mr Marshall said.

“Our investment will take recent government and private investment in entertainment and convention infrastructure along Adelaide’s riverbank precinct to more than $2 billion.”

Mr Marshall said arena construction would start when major works for the Women’s and Children’s Hospital were expected to finish, in 2025.

He said funding for construction planning and preparation would start in 2023, once final costings had been determined later this year.

An aerial rendering of the planned new multipurpose arena alongside the other entertainment and events venues, and biomedical precinct buildings, on North Terrace.

Mr Marshall said this timing would provide certainty and stability for the SA construction sector.

Plans for a multipurpose arena in the Riverbank precinct were first revealed by The Advertiser in September, 2018.

As The Advertiser reported, the arena plan has been developed by the Adelaide Venue Management Corporation, which operates the Convention and Entertainment centres, and has undergone preliminary assessment by Infrastructure SA.

Mr Marshall said sport and entertainment events in SA were limited by the Entertainment Centre’s 11,300-capacity and Hindmarsh location.

He said the Centre’s capacity was only 9600 for basketball and netball, compared to the new arena seating 15,000 people for all events.

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas has yet to declare a position on the arena but has questioned the $700m expenditure on a “basketball stadium”.

Read about the community and political reaction to today’s announcement and have your say by voting in our polls on the arena plan.