SANFL gives Adelaide Crows ultimatum to settle on new headquarters
The SANFL has set Adelaide a deadline to commit to Thebarton Oval but the Crows want more time to find out if their preferred CBD site is a viable option.
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The SANFL has given the Crows until the end of the month to commit to Thebarton Oval as the site for its new headquarters and training base.
But Adelaide is sticking to its own June deadline, due to financing and to keep its $15m Federal Government funding, as the club pursues a move out of West Lakes.
The Crows’ preferred option remains in the CBD parklands – though not at the city council’s main nursery site, as has been widely speculated, nor part of the Adelaide University precinct.
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Instead, it is understood the Crows’ new push surrounds an undisclosed parklands location in the CBD.
Thebarton Oval is Adelaide’s fallback if it and the city council cannot agree to engage on a preferred spot by the middle of the year.
If the Crows move to Thebarton, they will join the SANFL and Adelaide Footy League at the ground.
The SANFL wants to know Adelaide’s plans by the end of the month because it has its own Federal and State Government funding to create a training precinct for its junior talent programs, and if the Crows choose to move there, changes will be required to the site plan, pushing timelines back.
Adelaide understands the state league’s predicament but needs time to lock in a new site and obtain a return from its assets at West Lakes.
West Torrens Council has given in-principle support to the Crows’ being based at Thebarton.
The ground has some major advantages for the Crows, including space for a second oval and options for licensed venues.
Adelaide almost certainly will not be allowed to have the latter in the parklands.
Crows chairman John Olsen wrote to the city council last week seeking a meeting over a CBD site and speculation was rife his pitch would centre on the War Memorial Drive nursery, which the club sought in 2018 but was rejected.
The 1.6ha nursery would only be in the picture again if the council backflipped and offered Adelaide the chance to build there.
Last year the Crows’ proposal to be based at Adelaide Aquatic Centre was aborted due to the financial impact of COVID-19.
The SANFL would not comment on whether it had an end-of-February deadline.
But its chief executive Darren Chandler said the league was focused on progressing with its Thebarton upgrade.
“The announcement late last year of a State Government contribution of $5m to this project ensured this redevelopment can happen,” Chandler said.
“SANFL is the leaseholder of Thebarton Oval so any decision with regards to the Adelaide Football Club, or any other entity, utilising the site, needs to be considered and approved by the South Australian Football Commission.
“The City of West Torrens has given in-principle support to Adelaide Football Club being located at Thebarton, should this be something SANFL and the SA Football Commission wish to consider.”
Should the Crows move to the parklands?
The Crows are on the lookout for a new nest and look set to make another bid at relocating to the Adelaide parklands.
After their plans for the Adelaide Aquatic Centre were scuttled by COVID-19 last year, and Thebarton Oval looked to be firming, Crows chairman John Olsen has written to the Adelaide City Council requesting “to engage with council on a potential site for a new club facility”.
It has been speculated this site is the council’s nursery close to Park 10, where the Crows do their 2km time trial in pre-season, and was raised by Adelaide leaders as a potential option in 2018 before being smacked down by the council.
But could a fresh bid work?
We asked two well known figures in Adelaide why the Crows should look at a parklands base, and why they shouldn’t.
The case for
Daniel Gannon, Executive Director SA Property Council
For the detractors in this debate, there is a very short list of potential sites for the Adelaide Football Club to activate.
If any sites at all.
Take a look at last year’s debate around the decrepit Adelaide Aquatic Centre site. That was a public discussion hijacked by hyperbole and fear campaigns, and when that happens, we usually end up with inferior outcomes.
As it turns out, the COVID wrecking ball well and truly brought an end to that opportunity.
But let’s be serious for a moment. From a property activation and member engagement perspective, a shift into or around the CBD makes perfect sense for the Crows, but also the
city economy.
So, looking from the outside in, it’s important to understand the potential sites for development – a task actually already undertaken by the City of Adelaide earlier this year.
Just last month, Council identified 29 property assets from within a $300m portfolio which could be sold, as reported by this publication.
This should serve as a helpful guide for budding activation sites, many of which are brownfield opportunities that don’t impose on bare parklands.
Over the past decade, Adelaide’s CBD has undergone an incredible transformation with a skyline and business environment that is now attracting investment from interstate and abroad.
Look at the cranes, hard hats and steel caps – Adelaide has changed, and it’s being noticed.
In many ways, the catalyst was the Adelaide Oval redevelopment. This was a project that divided communities and triggered similar accusations to what we’re hearing today about the Adelaide Football Club relocating to a city base.
But guess what? The sky didn’t fall in. Footy and cricket fans flocked in droves to our city’s Colosseum. This brownfield redevelopment site actually brought communities together and continues to deliver crowds of fans and consumer dollars into town.
Don’t forget, the Oval wasn’t a greenfield site. There was already an operational stadium in situ with grandstands and facilities providing purpose of place for generations of South Australians.
And in all likelihood, that’s what we’re talking about here – a brownfield development
opportunity for a Club that wants to breathe new life into an under-utilised or under-activated site and provide a modern facility for its members and supporters.
Not a new facility sitting in the middle of currently vacant parklands.
Take a look at the Collingwood Football Club moving to Olympic Park and the West Coast Eagles.
It’s been done before, with facilities widely used by the community that improve recreation, streetscape, accessibility and overall amenity.
So, let’s just be sensible about this opportunity and leave the fear campaigns at the door.
The case against
Jane Lomax-Smith, former Lord Mayor of Adelaide
Another top-secret plan is being examined behind closed doors at the Town Hall and the Crows are once again circling our Parklands. So, before details emerge, let me pre-emptively identify the “usual” arguments made by all “wannabe” Park Land developers. It is a well-used playbook.
I expect any interstate proponent — like the immensely wealthy AFL — to be entirely ignorant of Adelaide and the status of the Adelaide Park Lands including that they are globally recognised as a design icon and on the National Heritage List.
They will ridicule their underuse, offering to ‘activate’ the area by building Corporate Headquarters. Excluding players, the AFL apparently employs 8375 FTE, suggesting 18 clubs might each employ 200-500 people, but supporters will describe sports activities never corporate offices or staff carparking.
When the public ask for details, they will justify the data deficit by saying they are yet to complete a community consultation while publishing more detailed pictures showing only footballers.
When the size of the corporate building is finally announced the multistorey office block will, amazingly, be calculated as smaller than the aggregated size of all footpaths, modest potting sheds and old glasshouses currently on any Park Lands site.
They will build straw men, to denigrate as Green NIMBY tree huggers rather than people with knowledge of the legislation, history and respect for our irreplaceable Park Lands
They may suggest a benefit to Melbourne St traders despite the tenacity AFL franchises show in maximising restaurant or bar takings and the likely greater impact on traffic congestion.
They will highlight economic impact but forget that jobs are created by building at any location. Meanwhile when many investors are struggling and might like to sell their land, an AFL club surely prefers to get free public land.
Money is what it is really all about.
Indeed, it is only about money, not proximity to the CBD in a small Capital City. It is about free land. No taxes, no rates, and preferably with big government grants.
Remember, the AFL is a cashed-up interstate based corporate behemoth with a massive media machine, and friends at the big end of town, as media moguls, and retired politician lobbyists, often with a personal interest in supporting the sporting franchise.
This circling Crow may just become an albatross as the State Government and Council elections approach.
WHAT SHOULD THE CROWS DO?
Stay at West Lakes
Pros
Long term lease at little to no cost
Existing facilities
Traditional home
Cons
Facilities are ageing
It is surrounded by construction sites
Has been blamed for a lack of culture
Move to Thebarton Oval
Pros
Would become a footy precinct
Space for potential secondary oval
Council is keen to have them
Cons
Still not in the city
Public transport is lacking
Could be impacted by South Road expansion
Move to Adelaide parklands (city council nursery)
Pros
In city of Adelaide
Drop punt from Adelaide Oval
Facilitates greater fan access
Cons
On public owned land
City Council has previously said no
Potential development in parklands gets fierce opposition
Originally published as SANFL gives Adelaide Crows ultimatum to settle on new headquarters
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