Government urged to conduct feasibility study to identify site for a new 10,000 seat indoor arena

The Sydney CBD desperately needs a new indoor entertainment arena and the NSW Government has been urged to conduct a feasibility study to identify public land where it can be built.

Qudos Bank Arena is currenty Sydney’s best indoor venue, though there’s calls for something similar closer to the CBD.

The Sydney CBD desperately needs a new indoor entertainment arena and the NSW Government has been urged to conduct a feasibility study to identify public land where it can be built.

Developers believe up to $500 million of private capital could be invested at no cost to the taxpayer if public land were released with the covered stadium returning to public control once a long lease had expired.

Eight years after the successful Sydney Entertainment Centre at Darling Harbour was torn down, plans are being drawn up for a 10,000 seat indoor stadium at the Entertainment Quarter but are reliant on the current 23-year lease being extended to make the investment worthwhile.

Tony Shepherd, chairman of the Entertainment Quarter, said discussions with the NSW government were ongoing to extend the lease and clear the way for $2 billion of investment in the old Easter Show site.

“Part of that development includes a new multipurpose, fully enclosed arena which we think is something Sydney really needs close to the city centre,” he said.

Shane Heale amassed 46 points when the Sydney Kings played the Brisbane Bullets at the old Sydney Entertainment Centre. Developers are calling for a new indoor arena in the Sydney CBD.

The $500 million arena would be able to accommodate professional basketball matches, boxing contests and mid-sized concert performances.

Sydney only has Qudos Bank Arena at Homebush and nothing to rival Melbourne Arena and Rod Laver Arena in the centre of Melbourne. Potential sites for a new arena include the Bays Precinct and land seized from the Moore Park golf course.

Tom Forrest, chief executive of the Urban Taskforce, said private investors could be encouraged to build an arena on government land and called for the NSW Government to conduct a feasibility study to identify the best potential site.

“The NSW Government should welcome private sector funds and do everything it can to deliver viable private and public outcomes,” he said.

But he warned that “underemployed bureaucrats” were stifling Private-Public-Partnerships with red tape that would have stopped previous successes such as the Sydney Harbour Tunnel and the M4 and M5 motorways from ever being built.

“With the bureaucratic shackles removed a feasibility study could unleash the potential of a new arena in a number of locations including the Bays Precinct of Glebe Island and the White Bay Power Station, Wentworth Park and Moore Park,” he said.

Freddie Mercury at the Entertainment Centre, Sydney in 1985. Developers are calling for a new indoor arena in the Sydney CBD. PicSteve/Southwell

City of Sydney councillor Lyndon Gannon, deputy chair of the creative and cultural committee, welcomed the idea of a “versatile, 10,000 seat venue” in the city that would replicate the success of the Entertainment Centre, home to the Sydney Kings basketball team, that was demolished and only partly replaced by the International Convention Centre at Darling Harbour. The Centre hosted a string of legendary acts including Elton John, Queen, George Michael, David Bowie and was the venue for Cold Chisel’s final Last Stand concert. It was demolished in January 2016.

“I grew up with the old Entertainment Centre and businesses in Chinatown still complain that they miss it because the International Convention Centre does not generate that kind of business,” he said.

Kylie Minogue performing at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in 2001.

“I would love to see anything like this that would drive more people into the city,” he said. “I think people are tired of having to schlep out to Homebush for a concert.”

Howard Adams from the Live Music Business Council said a new arena in the city would provide a boost to live music acts.

“The city is woefully short of music venues so any new ones would be a fantastic boost,” he said.

Another alternative would be to build a permanent stage in the Domain to replicate New York’s Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park in Brooklyn

“Instead of constantly building stages and pulling them down again we could have a permanent stage in the Domain for concerts all summer long,” he said.