Stadium: GOBs’ crush FLATTENED

[RIP, fubar]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*GOB —good old boy

Russell Garbutt: DCC, stadium failings

Comment received.

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Russell Garbutt
Submitted on November 26, 2013 at 9:31 am

I submitted this to the ODT as an Opinion Piece following their editorial, but I have been told that it has not been selected for publication. Up to you to judge why.

“The ODT Editorial of Friday, 22nd November, 2013 headed “Stadium’s hard act to follow” is another stage in what has turned out to be a sorry chapter in Dunedin’s history.

Many residents of Dunedin were dismayed and astonished that the decision to build the new rugby stadium proceeded despite wide-spread protests and well-researched submissions detailing the experiences of other city’s decisions to build stadia which invariably had led to construction cost blow-outs, below budgeted incomes and over budgeted expenditures. As it turns out, these submitters have been proved right time and time again. What is patently obvious to all of those that have read the various reports into this project including the Larsen Report and the PWC report, the project was predicated upon counting future income as private construction costs, and assuming income levels and costs that would have resulted in an actual profit from Year one of operation.

The reality is a great deal different.

The DCC, and the ratepayers of the City, have been forced, through a complex set of financial arrangements, to provide substantial financial support by way of a payment of $7.25m per year to enable the debt to be paid off faster, a payment of $750,000 per year for “promotion of the stadium for community events”, a payment of $725,000 for other stadium debt round seats and pitch machinery, another annual $400,000 to subsidise or attract large events, and ongoing additional costs for financial advice and the like. All this on top of the huge costs for construction and the associated debt which is a very large component of the $12,000 debt owed by each and every ratepayer to the DCC.
Read more

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“On the eastern coast of New Zealand lies a world-first architectural icon – where 30,000 excited fans are drawn together to watch the action, be entertained, and celebrate. Welcome to Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza: New Zealand’s newest, largest and most versatile indoor events arena.”
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Facebook 22 July 2011 at 17:06

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DVML works media/DCC to spend more ratepayer money

Dunedin Venues Management Ltd (DVML) has been testing the stadium sound system since February, and has discovered it is only working at 20% of what is needed.

Queries about the sound system were only some of a barrage of questions from Dunedin city councillors before they adopted the annual reports of DVML and Dunedin Venues Ltd this week.

### ODT Online Sat, 12 Oct 2013
Stadium PA fix up to $800,000
By Debbie Porteous
Permanently fixing problems with Forsyth Barr Stadium’s public address system would cost between $500,000 and $800,000.
DVML chief executive Darren Burden said the cost did not include permanently fixing sound issues with the wider auditorium, such as those experienced at concerts. They would continue to be addressed by temporary measures installed by promoters.
He said DVML had been working with acoustic engineers and sound system experts, including the company that installed the system. There were problems with the transmission of sound from microphones on the pitch to the sound box that delivered sound to speakers around the stadium.
The solutions, which ranged in price depending on what standard of sound delivery was wanted, involved improving the sound transmission from the field and installing more speakers around the stadium.
The cost of fixing it had to be dealt with internally by DVML.
Read more

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Head in the Sand Award?
Cr Richard Thomson said he appreciated Mr Burden (pictured) might wonder why he bothered when faced with such a barrage of questions from councillors. ”But it is really important for the city that this delivers as much revenue as possible.” (via ODT)

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Comment at ODT Online:

Who is accountable?
Submitted by russandbev on Sat, 12/10/2013 – 9:06am.

Just another example of the difference between reality and hype. Ratepayers have been assured since the building of this rugby stadium that the PA system was state of the art. Indeed, the hype from the Carisbrook Stadium Trust before the build indicated that it was even better than that. Now ratepayers are told that it will cost the best part of a million to get right for the most basic of requirements, and that the costs of running the stadium will rise. Who is being held accountable? Not those responsible for this ongoing shambles, but only the ratepayers.

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Related Posts and Comments:
7.10.13 DCC councillors, no idea of annual cost of owning and operating…
4.10.13 DVML . . . | ‘Make the stadium work’ losses continue
20.8.13 DVML foists invoices on DCC
20.6.13 Stadium: DVML, DVL miserable losers! #grandtheftdebt
30.12.12 To DVML Board, from Ian Tayor [sic]
11.12.12 Stadium: DCC runs amok with $750K annual subsidy to DVML
2.11.12 Stadium financials: Calvin Oaten on DVML, DVL and DCHL
2.11.12 Stadium financials: JimmyJones v Peter Hutchison (DVML)…
19.10.12 LGOIMA request: Breakdown of DVML recruitment costs [emails]
19.10.12 Weak boys, Cull and Burden on rugby stadium
11.10.12 Darren Burden plays LGOIMA game like Davies #DVML #PsychoAnswer

For more, enter the terms *dvml*, *darren burden* or *stadium* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium: Insurmountable debt but gosh, look at our numbers!

Stadium numbers (via ODT):
• 605,000 ticketed fans since opening day in 2011
• 158,000 so far this year
• Up from 136,000 same period last year (16.2% increase)
• 80% rugby crowd last year
• 45% this year

### ODT Online Sat, 8 Jun 2013
Stadium numbers up and diversifying
By Chris Morris
The Forsyth Barr Stadium crowd is diversifying, but the punters still love their beer and chips, the company running the venue says. Figures released by Dunedin Venues Management Ltd yesterday showed 605,000 fans have now paid to attend a ticketed event at the stadium since opening day in 2011. That included 158,000 fans in the first five months of this year, which was up on last year, when 136,000 paid to enter during the corresponding period, DVML chief executive Darren Burden confirmed. The venue’s reliance on professional rugby was also diminishing, with the proportion of overall attendance linked to rugby games during the five-month period dropping from 80% last year to 45% this year.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Editorial bias

Received today from Russell Garbutt [email].

Have readers of the ODT online site noticed the failure of the ODT Online Editor to acknowledge that they are abridging comments or simply wiping them?

Two examples of mine recently spring to mind and the context shows where the sympathies of the ODT lies. The first was in response to a comment made by speedfreak43 who noted that the GV of Carisbrook at the time the dear old DCC masquerading as a body acting in the interests of the ratepayers was about $1.5m when the purchase price from the ORFU who really run the DCC, was $7m. This is what I wrote, which simply vanished into thin air:

“speedfreak43, I think you are pretty close to the mark with the recollection of a GV of about $1.5m for Carisbrook. That makes this story even more worth pursuing by the ODT. Here we have a previous owner in the financial doodah for $7m – interestingly because of their purchases of Auckland bars to carry out their pokie fund rort – bailed out by a Council decision to purchase at a price many times more than what is clearly a market price. All backed up by “valuations” that appear to be nothing other than part of the shonky deals done behind closed doors. All replicated almost exactly with Luggate and Jack’s Point. Bearing in mind that every $1m of spend without income that this Council does equates to 1% on the rates and you can see that these 3 property deals alone have cost Dunedin ratepayers close on 15% of rates increases. My question again – who is going to hold these Councillors accountable?”

Now why this sensitivity? The ORFU were involved in a rort and everyone knows that. Were there shonky deals done behind closed doors? Well, we have Carisbrook, Jacks Point and Luggate as examples that are in the public domain. Is it that the ODT don’t want some Councillors to be exposed for what they are? Well here my posting in another thread with the deleted portion emboldened.

“If the promoters are well aware in advance of sound issues at the stadium and have prepared accordingly, then a simple question remains unanswered. Why do patrons who shell out money to see and hear acts at the stadium rate the sound quality over the PA systems as “abhorrent”? While pondering that answer, why is it that, after we were all told that the surface was the most high-tech, durable and incredible surface ever devised that the recent soccer fixture rated the surface as being the worst they had played on? When considering the answer to that question, readers may like to consider just how much they have paid in their rates to achieve these levels of mediocrity. Perhaps Malcolm Farry and the stadium Councillors could provide some answers?”

So, the ODT had printed stories about the sound quality and the turf quality so they couldn’t take exception to that, but they didn’t want Farry and the Stadium Councillors being asked to be held accountable.

This I suggest, is a very clear indication of where the ODT’s sympathies and probable support will be for any forthcoming Council elections. Can it logically be seen in any other way?

[ends]

Related Posts and Comments:
23.1.13 Editorial spin, disagrees?!
1.1.13 Journalist sums up 2012, against the ‘odds’ how does it rate ?
10.6.12 What won’t get printed on ORT’s front page (pssst, about the Albatross…….)
3.8.12 Extraordinary editorials
28.7.12 Pokie fraud: ODT fails to notice own backyard
26.6.12 Defamation
7.5.12 ODT: “the cupboard has been bare” [still is]
4.2.12 Editor pitches for rugby nursery
31.12.11 Dishonourable mention
4.10.11 Something hyped in the news
[the list goes on . . . ]

Editorial Note:
When the What if? moderators enter “abridge” in their dashboard search box up come 74 items of observation and complaint on multiple threads about comments being abridged or not published after submission to ODT Online.
Spot the trend.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dougal Stevenson from stadium to slogan

{The slogan-free city has honest appeal. -Eds}

### radionz.co.nz 11 December 2011
Radio New Zealand National 101FM
Sunday Morning – www.radionz.co.nz/sunday
10:38 Notes from the South with Dougal Stevenson
Dougal has been pondering a fabulous, but modest, slogan for Dunedin. (5′32″)
Audio | Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3 | Embed

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Friday stuff – Architecture

### guardian.co.uk Thursday 11 June 2009 08.30 BST
Shortlist for Britain’s top public architecture prize announced
By David Batty

An environmentally friendly ringroad and a school sports hall made from recycled freight containers are among the 24 finalists competing for Britain’s top public architecture prize.

One of the projects, picked from 125 submissions of new work from the public sector, will be chosen to win the ninth Prime Minister’s award for Better Public Building in October.

The competition was set up to try to improve standards not only in public sector architecture but throughout the building process, from procurement to interior decoration.
Read more

Public architecture award 2009 (15 pictures)
The Prime Minister’s Better Public Building award aims to show how ‘architecture of the everyday’ – streets, schools, bridges and stations – ranks among the most imaginative and beautiful designs being built today.
Selected highlights

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### Engineering News 1 May 2009
Stadium projects safe and sustainable – Jordaan
By Philippa Levenberg

As the infrastructural phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup preparation project nears completion, concerns emerge around whether the acquired assets, which will cost the South African government over R20-billion on completion, will be used after the final goal is scored.

In an interview with Engineering News, 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa (OC SA) CEO Dr Danny Jordaan assures that the project, including five greenfield stadium projects, five stadium upgrades and the development of associated public transport infrastructure, will deliver maximum returns on the investment for South Africa.

“In a developing country, the most important question to ask when planning and implementing a project of this nature is what the postevent use of the infrastructural investment will be,” says Jordaan.
Read more

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### AIArchitect September 19, 2008
Miami Marine Stadium Wins Historic Designation
By Russell Boniface, Associate Editor

How do you . . . lead a restoration effort for an architecturally and regionally significant structure?

The City of Miami’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board has nominated the Miami Marine Stadium for historic landmark status from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Miami-based Friends of Miami Marine Stadium, under the umbrella of Dade Heritage Trust, has been working with AIA Miami in seeking to restore the 1964 concrete Modern structure that sits on the Virginia Key barrier island facing Biscayne Bay and features a view of the downtown Miami skyline.
Read more

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### Architecture Week – Page D1.1 . 26 April 2006
Design Department
Recreational Morphing
By Brian Libby

A generation ago, the University of Cincinnati was a commonplace American commuter school riddled with surface parking lots, the campus severed by a busy thoroughfare. Despite being nestled in the heart of a large city, it felt suburban. But over the ensuing years, the university has undergone a billion-dollar makeover.
Read more

Brian Libby is a Portland, Oregon-based freelance writer who has also published in Metropolis, The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and Architectural Record.

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### Architecture Week – Page D4.1 . 19 August 2009
Design Department
Magic Blue Box
By Terri Peters

A giant blue cuboid has sprung up in Copenhagen, Denmark. This striking scaffolding box wrapped in translucent blue fabric is the new Copenhagen Concert Hall. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Jean Nouvel, with acoustic design by noted Japanese consultants Nagata Acoustics, the building is the new permanent home for the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

Visitors arriving by train will find the immediate context of the concert hall strange and uninhabited, aside from the giant blue box. At first glance, there seems to be little more to this neighbourhood than a train platform. Seemingly marooned in a vast dusty wasteland — Nouvel has said he imagined the building as an asteroid crash-landed on the site — the building’s simple form comes alive at night as a massive projection screen for video and images, a glowing lantern surrounded by canals.

Nouvel has managed to create a world-class national concert venue for Copenhagen — something the city previously lacked — as well as the local heart for a growing community, mixing practical and high-performance Danish modernism with jubilant and theatrical French avant garde.
Read more

Terri Peters is a writer and designer based in Copenhagen and London.

The Who at North Harbour Stadium

### http://www.stuff.co.nz Last updated 10:48 22/03/2009
Gig review: The Who in Auckland

By Tracey Bond

The Who performed to a packed crowd at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday night. The band showcased their signature moves – Roger Daltrey whirling his microphone around the stage and Pete Townshend thrashing the living daylights out of his guitar. A massive LCD backdrop featured electrifying visuals of still images and moving pictures. For an open air stadium, North Harbour performed admirably in the sound department. And drummer Zak Starkey more than held his own against the two giants of rock. On You Better, You Bet, Ringo Starr’s son was a particular stand out, and by this stage even the bleachers were up out of their seats and dancing. And the hits kept on coming.

Read More Online Here…

Read more

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### NZ Herald Online 8:58AM Wednesday Mar 18, 2009
The Who: On their way to NZ

Legendary British band The Who, who last played on these shores in 1968, kick off their highly-anticipated 2009 tour at the North Harbour Stadium on Saturday.

Read More Online Here…

Link + The Who 90Sec Trailer

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Official website: www.thewho.com
Auckland pics + comments