New Training Ground Option?

[dpositive 939]

16 minutes ago, Jack Russell said:

Richmond is not going to move and nothing will happen at Port Melbourne been talked about for years and a line through it

Thanks Jack.

i do believe your right on Punt road, even Richmond understand the significance of their home base.

Who put a line through Port Melbourne and why.

The MCG is now too compromisedbut a new Melbourne centre at Fishermans bend could be built and branded around the MFC rich history.

[dpositive 939]

40 minutes ago, Jack Russell said:

Richmond is not going to move and nothing will happen at Port Melbourne been talked about for years and a line through it

Was the line through Murphy reserve or alternative sites.

The international kart track and the gun club seem to have found some room down there around Todd road.

[dpositive 939]

Anyone been to the Ron Barassi senior park?

seems like plenty of kids amenities and a soccer field among other features including pavilion..

Any room for a footy club?

 

[Diamond_Jim 5,367]

1 hour ago, Jack Russell said:

Richmond is not going to move

why not ??

Pies moved from Vic Park

Bombers moved from Windy Hill

Hawks moved from Glenferrie

etc etc etc

[Jack Russell 47]

3 hours ago, dpositive said:

Thanks Jack.

i do believe your right on Punt road, even Richmond understand the significance of their home base.

Who put a line through Port Melbourne and why.

The MCG is now too compromisedbut a new Melbourne centre at Fishermans bend could be built and branded around the MFC rich history.

Vic or Cth Gov or both Def been looked at by club and not going to happen I agree worth looking at but history sorry

[Half forward flank 36]

10 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

why not ??

Pies moved from Vic Park

Bombers moved from Windy Hill

Hawks moved from Glenferrie

etc etc etc

Punt Rd is a little different. The other grounds were right in the middle of housing communities and the relevant councils were not supportive of prime land being locked away for exclusive elite footy club use.  I encorouge you to have a walk around Glenferrie and Pieland and you will see the councils have been proven to ave had the correct foresight. Both grounds are used extensively by the community with people walking sitting, reading books and enjoying the fresh air. Punt Rd itself creates a barrier to that sort of activity for many people, the elderly, Mums with young kids and so on.

[Cards13 5,540]

2 hours ago, Half forward flank said:

Punt Rd is a little different. The other grounds were right in the middle of housing communities and the relevant councils were not supportive of prime land being locked away for exclusive elite footy club use.  I encorouge you to have a walk around Glenferrie and Pieland and you will see the councils have been proven to ave had the correct foresight. Both grounds are used extensively by the community with people walking sitting, reading books and enjoying the fresh air. Punt Rd itself creates a barrier to that sort of activity for many people, the elderly, Mums with young kids and so on.

And those grounds are tiny and hemmed in by roads and as you said housing. 

[Neil Crompton 740]

Back in June last year i read an article about a planned acquisition by Mirvac of the Boral PGH brick pit land at Wantirna South for a huge residential development. The article said that it would need State Government approval because the land is covered by a parks acquisition overlay, giving the state the right to purchase it for parkland. I don't know if there are any further developments on this, but a section of this land would make an excellent training base IMO. Anyone know the outcome of Mirvac's application?

[Diamond_Jim 5,367]

Has potential Neil.

I see the nearby Knox Regional Sports Park got $140M for facilities upgrade in 2018

[george_on_the_outer 2,629]

There has been much conversation on Demonland about this matter before, the possible sites and the impossible sites.

I am afraid that after 160 years as a club, 30 plus years since divorcing from the MCC, that we still do not have something of an AFL  standard to train on, or a place for our administrative and coaching staff.  We share our facility at AAMI park with 2 Rugby codes and a soccer team.  No other AFL side is in this position.

The current Board has been in power for 5 years, and I have been hearing proposals to fix this problem for the past 30 at AGM's.  They claim to be looking at options in the "MCG precinct". The Board wasted a lot of time and effort with a proposal for Yarra park that was never going to fly because of residents, Railways, trees, parking and a slope that would have required pyramidal type earthmoving. 

I fear the option they are favouring is in the Gosch's paddock area and unless major alterations can be made to the ground or that the other tenants can be "encouraged" to move, then we will finish up with something 2nd rate. 

Compare the size of Gosch's ( particularly how narrow) with the Collingwood ground at Olympic park or the MCG itself.  To widen it requires tree removal.  The area currently occupied by soccer fields and the rugby pitch alongside Olympic Bvde would provide a proper sized ground, but can we convince them to move or swap?

Can we fit in an an admin building, indoor gym and weights room in the remaining area....maybe in the car park, but where do the cars go? We still wouldn't control the upkeep of the ground as this lies with the Olympic Park trust. 

I want to see something which will last the club for the next 50-100 years, not something that we have to re-visit in 10 because we have fallen behind again.  We need space, and to me it isn't available in "the MCG precinct"

 

[whatwhatsaywhat 7,096]

38 minutes ago, george_on_the_outer said:

<snip>

the option to build over the train lines is the only one that actually makes sense from a feasibility perspective but absolutely none from a cost and convenience one

if are ever are to get a joint admin / training base to happen - and i have my doubts - then the option is to hope pies outgrow their 'home' and we get the sloppy seconds of olympic park and the holden / etihad / mcguire mausoleum

and if the filth ever do leave the precinct, my wager is on it going back to athletics australia, at a tidy profit to the pies...

[Half forward flank 36]

I know the search has been going on for decades now but wonder if we have ever had a working party physically go from sporting ground to sporting ground to maybe, just maybe find that hidden gem. Perhaps there is a struggling local club out there somewhere that would jump at that chance to have access to a modern facilities. Remembering local clubs train late afternoon and play games on an oval that we operate and can call home. I know of two such oval in North Balwyn. Clearly council is an issue but I would expect we would have a working propsal to integrate into the community for just such an inventuality.

[Demon Disciple 4,384]

1 hour ago, george_on_the_outer said:

I want to see something which will last the club for the next 50-100 years, not something that we have to re-visit in 10 because we have fallen behind again.  We need space, and to me it isn't available in "the MCG precinct"

Good luck trying to convince the current board, who appear to be transfixed on being within the MCG precinct.

I don't quite understand the stubborn fascination with the G. What has it done for us in the past 56 years? One thing it hasn't is given us a flag.

[Rab D Nesbitt 513]

Maybe we can build a man made island in the bay or on the Yarra from the rail tunnel spoil. Or commandeer Herring Island. 

[Supreme_Demon 148]

I think besides the obvious of winning a Premiership the main legacy of Melbourne Football Club President Glen Bartlett and this current board is being able to sort out this issue of a combined football department, administration and social club headquarters for the Demons close to the MCG.

 

The biggest issue is the feasibility of the Demons headquarters. Where should it be exactly? How much room is required to fit everything we need? Can we have a MCG sized oval? And most important of all, how much will a new Demons headquarters cost?

[ding 3,450]

2 hours ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

Maybe we can build a man made island in the bay or on the Yarra from the rail tunnel spoil. Or commandeer Herring Island. 

Chairman Dan could get his Chinese mates to whip us up a new island base as part of their Honorable investment into the Great Peoples Republic of Danistan. Im told they have some recent experience making islands.

 

[Cards13 5,540]

20 minutes ago, ding said:

Chairman Dan could get his Chinese mates to whip us up a new island base as part of their Honorable investment into the Great Peoples Republic of Danistan. Im told they have some recent experience making islands.

 

Not your finest work D.

[ding 3,450]

7 minutes ago, Cards13 said:

Not your finest work D.

Labor guy huh?

Belt and Road is something we shouldnt go within 1 million miles of.

Each to their own though.

I thought it was pretty good myself.

 

[Ethan Tremblay 19,736]

1 hour ago, ding said:

Chairman Dan could get his Chinese mates to whip us up a new island base as part of their Honorable investment into the Great Peoples Republic of Danistan. Im told they have some recent experience making islands.

 

We could light it up at night time in the colours of the CCP and raise their flag over it during the day. 

Edited May 23 by Ethan Tremblay

[58er 477]

10 hours ago, Demon Disciple said:

Good luck trying to convince the current board, who appear to be transfixed on being within the MCG precinct.

I don't quite understand the stubborn fascination with the G. What has it done for us in the past 56 years? One thing it hasn't is given us a flag.

Grounds don't give modern day sides flags !

You earn them in the AFL best urban ( now national) sporting comp in the world!

[Rab D Nesbitt 513]

8 hours ago, ding said:

Chairman Dan could get his Chinese mates to whip us up a new island base as part of their Honorable investment into the Great Peoples Republic of Danistan. Im told they have some recent experience making islands.

 

I'v actually got a lot of time for the guy Ding. Governments of both the liberal and conservative persuasion (even though the latter call themselves the former over here) have been sucking at the teat of China for a long time and it has been a major factor in our uninterrupted (until now) run of continual economic growth. The key is to find a balance that benefits us without selling our economic soul. Our moral soul in relation to China died a long time ago unfortunately. 

[Moonshadow 14,656]

I actually think the logistics of it aren't too hard.

Enlarge Goschs oval to be similar to MCG and build gym, admin, etc on carpark F, which is between AAMI and Goschs Paddock grassland. Three story building should be sufficient on such a large space. Four story if underground car parking is included. Numbers of staff/players/FD at AFL clubs will be shrunk dramatically soon.

We already use the grassland around the oval for rehab group, it's possible some Aussie rules posts could be put up at one end, even if it's not a defined oval. It's a big space which is not protected parkland and IMO underused. Take down a few trees trees to enlarge the current oval, shift the internal footpath, put in some decent landscaping to appease Council and resurface the oval up to AFL standard.

The hard part of all this is finding the money, which will be near impossible for the next 10 years. It's also no certainty that the other sporting clubs will survive and/or stay at AAMI

Edited May 24 by Moonshadow

[ding 3,450]

4 hours ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

I'v actually got a lot of time for the guy Ding. Governments of both the liberal and conservative persuasion (even though the latter call themselves the former over here) have been sucking at the teat of China for a long time and it has been a major factor in our uninterrupted (until now) run of continual economic growth. The key is to find a balance that benefits us without selling our economic soul. Our moral soul in relation to China died a long time ago unfortunately. 

Hard to disagree with much of that Rab. The problem is that the CCP has become so aggressive that the time has come to find a different teat to suckle on before we are forced to live on our knees.

Now if we got a new home base out of the deal i could be convinced. :P

[Rab D Nesbitt 513]

1 hour ago, ding said:

Hard to disagree with much of that Rab. The problem is that the CCP has become so aggressive that the time has come to find a different teat to suckle on before we are forced to live on our knees.

Now if we got a new home base out of the deal i could be convinced.

The proletariat in the outer might be happy to take their yuan but I can't see the cheese platter brigade going for it. Having to drink Tsingtao in the bar would be my only red line. When it comes to my beers I'm pure bourgeois. 

Edited May 24 by Rab D Nesbitt

[Demon Disciple 4,384]

10 hours ago, 58er said:

Grounds don't give modern day sides flags !

You earn them in the AFL best urban ( now national) sporting comp in the world!

I 100% agree with you @58er. Nothing is given only earned.

In order to earn a premiership, a club must properly prepare itself by providing all employees with the proper facilities (for which we have severely lacked for decades). If land near the G cannot provide for this, then it would be foolish to insufficiently cram it all in.

Do it once. Do it right.