AFL Cairns believes it will take $15 million to upgrade Cazalys and turn it into an elite-level stadium capable of hosting national and international sporting events on a regular basis.
After Saturday’s successful hosting of the VFL match between the Gold Coast and Bendigo, which attracted a crowd of 3500 to Cazalys, AFL Cairns’ next goal is to bring a regular-season AFL fixture to the ground.
But while the Cazalys surface is considered one of the best in the country, the venue needs upgrading in areas such as lighting, stadium seating, changing-room facilities and broadcast areas to be considered a long-term option for such matches.
AFL Cairns president Gary Young thinks $15 million will cover the work required and will avoid the need to build a new, rectangular stadium in Cairns.
"Traditionally the ground has been used for AFL and cricket but it could also host rugby, either code, or soccer. It has in the past," he said.
"You can fit a rectangular field inside an oval but not the other way round.
"Why duplicate facilities? For a city the size of Cairns, about 150,000 people, it doesn’t make sense.
"Maybe if we had a population of about 230,000 but we don’t. It would be much cheaper to upgrade Cazalys."
Thanks to The Cairns Post, read more at: http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/07/22/119305_local-sport-news.html
Last Modified on 06/03/2011 13:06