Sydney Football Stadium (2022)

The Sydney Football Stadium (2022) is an under construction football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. It is scheduled to open in mid-2022 as a replacement for the Sydney Football Stadium. The New South Wales Waratahs, Sydney FC and Sydney Roosters will be the ground's major tenants. It will be used as one of the venues for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[1]

This article is about the planned stadium. For the former stadium on the same site, see Sydney Football Stadium.

Sydney Football Stadium (2022)

SFS
Artist's impression of the Sydney Football Stadium (2022)
Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Location in Sydney Show map of Sydney Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Location in New South Wales Show map of New South Wales Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Location in the Australia Show map of Australia
Address	40-44 Driver Avenue
Location	Moore Park, Sydney, Australia
Coordinates	33°53′21″S 151°13′31″E
Public transit	Moore Park Moore Park
Owner	Government of New South Wales
Operator	Sydney Cricket Ground Trust
Type	Multi-purpose stadium
Genre(s)	Concerts Sporting events
Capacity	45,000
Field shape	Rectangular
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	April 2020
Opened	2022 (scheduled)
Architect	Cox Architects
General contractor	John Holland
Tenants
New South Wales Waratahs Sydney FC Sydney Roosters	2022– 2022– 2022–
Website
scgt.nsw.gov.au

History

In October 2018 plans for the new stadium to replace the original Sydney Football Stadium were released by the Government of New South Wales.[2] In December 2018 Lendlease were appointed to build the stadium. Construction was initially scheduled to commence in 2019 with an early 2022 completion date.[3] In July 2019 the construction part of the Lendlease contract was cancelled by the government with John Holland and Multiplex shortlisted to bid for the contract.[4][5][6] In December 2019 John Holland was awarded a $735 million construction contract, representing a $99 million increase in the original budget for demolition and construction. The stadium is expected to be complete by October 2022.[7]

Construction

Demolition of the previous stadium began in March 2019. Opposition from local interest groups saw them attempt to prevent or slow the demolition via legal action before the 2019 New South Wales state election. After a short court-ordered delay just prior to the election, the existing Government was returned and the destruction of the old stadium continued through to completion in late 2019 at a cost of $40 million.

Construction of the stadium commenced in April 2020, with major drilling beginning the following month.[8][9]

Controversy

The demolition and rebuild of the stadium was a subject of controversy during the 2019 New South Wales state election.

In December 2018, Lendlease was unveiled as the successful bidder to carry out the demolition and construction work. At the time, then Sports Minister Stuart Ayres was quizzed over how the contract for construction could be awarded, because development consent had not been secured for stage two.

On 26 July 2019, Sports Minister, John Sidoti announced Lendlease would not be constructing the new stadium because it was unable to complete the $729 million project within budget. At this stage demolition was mostly complete and it appeared the original contract was a fixed price option for the construction phase.[4]

References

1. "6.2.2 Sydney – Sydney Football Stadium" (PDF). asone2023.com. p. 54. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
2. Gerathy, Sarah (12 October 2018). "New Sydney Football Stadium artist impressions revealed". ABC News. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
3. Robinson, Joel (21 December 2018). "Lendlease announced as builder of new Sydney Football Stadium". Property Observer. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
4. Dole, Nick (29 July 2019). "Sydney Football Stadium without a builder as Lendlease loses project". ABC News. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
5. "Sydney Football Stadium rebuild in chaos as builder exits". Austadiums. CV Media. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
6. "Two firms bid for Sydney stadium rebuild". The Canberra Times. Australian Community Media. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
7. Visentin, Lisa; Keoghan, Sarah; Noyes, Jenny (18 December 2019). "Sydney Football Stadium cost blows out by $99 million as government signs new deal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
8. Voss, Cameron (15 April 2020). "Sydney Football Stadium construction commences". Austadiums. CV Media. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
9. Stonehouse, Greta (7 May 2020). "Sydney stadium on track despite pandemic". The Canberra Times. Australian Community Media. Retrieved 7 May 2020.