Geelong Cats’ chief executive Brian Cook is pleased to have the support and expertise of two highly esteemed business leaders who are set to join former Victorian premier Steve Bracks on the Kardinia Park Trust working party.
MCC chief executive, Stephen Gough, and Deakin University vice-chancellor, Jane den Hollander, will join the proposed trust bringing with them valuable knowledge and insight.
The trust, which has already received a $400,000 grant from the state government, will house the $90 million needed for stage four.
Cook, who has led stages one, two and three of Simonds Stadium’s redevelopment, believes Gough and Hollander’s involvement in the trust will steer the project in the right direction to successfully achieve stage four.
“The critical part about stage four is that it gets capacity up to at least 36,000 which means the stadium can be used for things like international soccer and World Cup cricket,” Cook told News Limited.
“Each Geelong home game turns over about $4 million so if the stadium can attract other events, it will have a big impact on the local economy.”
This next stage of redevelopment will see the replacement of the Brownlow and Jennings Stands, located on the LaTrobe terrace side of the stadium.
The construction of stage four is set to begin at the end of the 2015 AFL home-and-away season and is expected to take 18 months to two years to complete.
Following stage four, Cook is hopeful the trust will help support the fifth and final stage soon after completion, increasing capacity to 46,000.
However, the detailing of stage five has not yet been finalised with plans still in discussion.
“The broad issue for stage five is whether we plan for a fully enclosed seated grandstand or whether we prefer a more open-ended mixture of standing room and seating like Adelaide Oval,” Cook said.
Stage five, which includes the redevelopment of the Ford Stand, Gary Ablett Terrace and Northern Terrace, as well as the Hickey Stand refurbishment, is likely to cost approximately $60 million to complete.
