The Tasmanian government announced that it will build a new $750 million multi-purpose stadium at Hobart’s Regatta Point as part of its ten-year strategic stadium plan.
The stadium is contingent on the island state achieving an AFL licence, and will be designed to AFL specifications, while also accommodating the A-League (soccer). A new stadium was a recommendation from the AFL Taskforce report which stipulated a need for a city-based stadium should Tasmania be granted an AFL license, similar to Perth and Adelaide.
The stadium, which will seat up to 27,000 beneath an operable roof, will be sited at Regatta Point, adjacent to the existing Cenotaph and Rememberance Bridge, designed by Denton Corker Marshall.
Philp Lighton Architects has created a concept design for the proposed stadium which will include a waterfront hospitality precinct, a variety of transport options and an indoor arena suitable for multiple sport and entertainment events. “The stadium beds into the coastal foreshore and extends out over the river with a combination of reclaimed land and suspended wharf platforms creating an activated interface between city and river, resulting in a pedestrian concourse perimeter that becomes an extension of the existing landscape,” the architects said.
The project will be delivered in two stages with the second stage to create an additional indoor facility for basketball, netball and other sports and entertainment events.
In a joint statement from Premier Peter Gutwein and Minister for Sport and Recreation Nic Street, the government said the Regatta Park stadium “will put Tasmania on the national and international stage for sporting, entertainment and cultural events on a scale that hasn’t been possible in the past.”
Philp Lighton Architects said current uses of the site, including the Cenotaph and Regatta, have been recognized in the new design, though specifics have not yet been provided.
Plans, approvals and contracts for the new stadium are expected to take approximately two years, with construction requiring up to three years. Both the government and the architect said construction is intended to be completed by 2027.
