ANZ & Allianz to be bulldozed

Sydney’s ANZ Stadium and Allianz Stadium are set to be bulldozed and replaced by two brand new stadiums at a cost of $2.3 billion.

The NSW Government made the announcement on Friday following many months of speculation and various plans tabled. It coincides with the new Western Sydney Stadium which commenced construction on the site of the old Parramatta Stadium in September.

ANZ Stadium, which was the main arena for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, is just 20 years old but now faces the wrecking ball. The venue initially 110,000 but was reduced to 83,500 following the Olympics.

It’s unclear if it’ll be completely demolished or mostly demolished with the frame and some back of house facilities retained as reported some time back, however the new stadium will have a capacity of 75,000 and may feature a retractable roof.

Work at Homebush is expected to commence in late 2019 and be complete in 2022. The cost is reported to be $1.25 billion.

It was also announced that the aging Allianz Stadium at Moore Park will be replaced by a new 45,000-seat stadium at the cost of $705 million. It is planned work will get underway in 2018 with the new venue to open in 2021.

Opening as the Sydney Football Stadium in 1988, the venue has fallen behind other major stadia with no significant upgrades in recent years. The new stadium will have a dual-mode catering for smaller events where the top tier of seating is covered by a revolutionary LED mesh screen, reducing capacity to 30,000.

Meanwhile, construction is underway on the new $300 million Western Sydney Stadium which is due for completion in 2019.