If only Eden Park had a fraction of the driving force behind Melbourne's newest sporting arena
Oh, for an ounce of Melbourne's political will when it comes to building sporting infrastructure.
A city already boasting the magnificent MCG, the Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena, the roofed Etihad Stadium and the ageing Olympic Park needs a more suitable ground for league, soccer and rugby? No probs.
How does A$190 million ($237 million) for a nice 30,000-seat rectangular stadium sound, says the Victorian state government.
Four years later and there it is, a magnificent structure smack-bang in the middle of Melbourne's sporting precinct.
All ready for action. Almost. Turns out all the political will in the world can't make a project run on time.
As Victorian premier John Brumby toured the facility yesterday in the company of Steve Kearney, Adam Blair, Tim Sheens, Cameron Smith and throngs of camera-toting media, an army of construction workers beavered feverishly outside.
Traffic lights were still going in, while large areas conspicuously devoid of paving are fenced off.
Up in the gods, brightly clad workers crawl like fire-ants atop the impressive geodesic (read "soccer-ball like") dome.
Perhaps they are putting in the last of the thousands of LED lights that can be programmed to display different images at night.
Still a construction site on the outside, inside Rectangular Stadium is a picture.
The surface is pristine, the seats are all in. Eat your heart out, John Mitchell.
So the outside isn't quite finished?
No matter. When it is, Melbourne will have yet another magnificent sport-specific theatre.
Soccer, league and union will have a home. So how's Eden Park looking, then?
