STAGE Four of the Simonds Stadium redevelopment is underway, with preparations being made for the demolition works.

To celebrate the start of the multi-million-dollar project, Geelong chief executive Brian Cook recently joined the CatsTV crew to speak about the timeline and the benefits that the new facilities will bring to the club and the city.

“The redevelopment is fantastic for a lot of reasons,” Cook said.

“It’s a game-changer for us because of the business growth we’ll get out of this area, because of the football growth we’ll get out of this area, and because of the community engagement.

“Those three things are all covered in this build. It’s going to be the biggest build we have.”

The new stand will feature a much larger area for the football department, which has enabled the club to cancel its search for a training base away from Simonds Stadium.

“Our football department goes from around 1800 square metres to around 4000 square metres … which will cater for us for the next 15 years,” Cook said.

“It was really important we got that in order for the Geelong Cats to stay at this stadium for the next 15 years as both a training and playing base.”

To watch the full interview with Brian Cook click on the video player at the top of the page