Featured image credit: Marvel Stadium
The Victoria Government and Australian Football League (AFL) have hailed the completion of a A$225m (£116.4m/€135.5m/$146.5m) upgrade package which they claim makes Marvel Stadium a “destination venue”.
The Labor Government’s A$225m investment has transformed the stadium, which now features two new Stadium Square and City Edge plazas which will turn the precinct into a seven-day-a-week community meeting place and build a better link between the entire Docklands precinct and Melbourne’s city centre.
Stadium Square provides a year-round all-weather public space that can be used for community events and markets and is a gathering place for fans with permanent bars and restaurants – backing more local jobs and businesses.
City Edge features a new concourse space on the eastern side of the ground with new shops, bars and restaurants, and Melbourne’s CBD as the backdrop.
Work began on the project back in February 2022, marking the first time the 53,000-seat stadium has undergone major renovations since it opened in March 2000. The redevelopment formed part of a wider agreement between the Victoria Government and the AFL, which owns and operates the venue, that ensures the AFL Grand Final will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground until 2059.
Building, infrastructure and rail company John Holland was named as the official build partner for the upgrade in May 2021. More than 1,500 jobs were created across the lifetime of the project while backing local Victorian suppliers through the Government’s Local Jobs First initiative.
Victoria’s Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos, said: “Marvel Stadium is one of our biggest drawcards to help pack our major events calendar every year. These upgrades make the venue better than ever for both fans and players at sporting or major events.
“The project will create fantastic opportunities for the Docklands precinct, establishing better links to the CBD, creating event opportunities and providing the facilities to turn the area into a place Victorians can be proud of.”
AFL CEO, Andrew Dillon, added: “On behalf of the AFL we sincerely thank the Victorian Government for their partnership in helping realise the dream of taking Marvel Stadium and the precinct from a place that just holds footy games and events and turning it into a destination venue that can and will operate and service Victorians and visitors 365 days a year.”
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