OPINION – JASON SHIELDS
Costs and tight timeframes forced Mildura Council this week to pass up a chance to stage a National Basketball League match at its new multi-million-dollar stadium next month.
It wasn’t just a rare chance, it was most probably a once-only offer for a regional city like Mildura to host an in-season men’s NBL game.
The council had been in discussions with the New Zealand Breakers, who have been rendered virtually homeless for two years by COVID-19, about the potential of hosting a weekend double-header next month. Who knows, that could have meant a clash against Chris Goulding and Melbourne United or Bryce Cotton and the Perth Wildcats. Yep, right here at Mildura Sporting Precinct.
But, unfortunately, the council decided against it.
While there were also financial reasons for knocking back the games, the reality is that Mildura’s brand new sporting precinct is not yet ready to host a major event.
And this is where Mildura Council faces some big decisions.
Here’s the thing: unless the council can address, sorry fix, major spectator issues at the venue, both indoor and outdoor, its new sporting precinct will not become the good news story we all wish it to be.
The indoor stadium is still not hosting domestic basketball matches, while Mildura’s men’s and women’s Big V basketball teams have declared they will remain at the Hothouse until more spectators can be accommodated at the new stadium. To say it’s been a mess is an understatement.
But the positives are that some of the issues are being worked through. Mildura Basketball Association is set to move its domestic competition to the new stadium for its winter season, with issues around slippery flooring now remedied, while other sports such as netball and badminton have already started playing at the new precinct, with excellent feedback.
In terms of staging a major event inside the stadium, though, the stadium still falls short. At present there would be no choice but to truck in all the temporary seating for grandstands to accommodate more than 1000 fans. Then there is the headache of catering for corporates, sponsors and the media, with infrastructure that was not part of the original design. It’s almost like starting from scratch.
As for football and netball, there are many questions still unanswered heading into the Sunraysia season, which begins in April.
Let’s start with a few.
Just how does new tenant South Mildura Sporting Club resolve issues around a lack of seating, car parking, gate takings and liquor licensing, given there is not yet a fence around what is a wonderful-looking football oval. The outdoor netball courts are not yet built, so the plan at this stage is to play netball games inside the new stadium. But what if the council stages another event inside the stadium on a weekend, such as a junior volleyball tournament? Where do the local netballers play then? And, again, where will everyone park?
Oh, and there is still no scoreboard on the footy oval.
The council is only too aware of these issues, but these are the questions many local people are asking.
And it is why many believe that South Mildura could still end up back at Sarah Oval this season.
Stage 2 works at MSP are about to begin and the council faces a lot of pressure to get it right.
The question inside the walls of the town hall will be how do we fix these issues to ensure our new $40 million-plus baby doesn’t turn into the white elephant many fear it could become.
While there is a lot to like about the new precinct, there is no hiding from the fact that the architects got so much of the design wrong.
But it is spilt milk now. What’s important is how the council goes about cleaning up some of the mess, remembering that the project is not yet complete.
So much depends on getting this right, because the long-term benefits of a potentially great sporting precinct are enormous. And we are all part of the same team here wanting this to happen.
The next time a golden opportunity knocks, we need Mildura to say “yes, come and play”.
