Media Release
28 November 2006

Eden Park upgrade should focus on temporary seating

Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis says the upgrade of Eden Park for the 2011 World Cup should include the use of temporary seating to bring capacity up to 60,000 from the current 47,500 seats.

“This will help keep the price tag of the project down. It was originally estimated that the cost would be $40 million.

“The Eden Park upgrade should be done at reasonable cost because it is unlikely there’ll be many other events such as the World Cup which will require huge seating capacity. Also, Eden Park is going to remain a regional facility, not a national stadium, and that must be kept in mind.

“Installing 12,500 permanent new seats isn’t necessary. The use of temporary seating for one-off events is a technique that’s been used successfully overseas.

“Some of figures being suggested for alternative upgrade proposals are way too high. In fact they’re barmy.

“We should not go overboard on the upgrade, given that many other important regional infrastructure projects are crying out for funding.”

ENDS

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