Adelaide Oval revamp given the green light
By Andrea Williamson SACA members have overwhelmingly voted to approve the Adelaide Oval redevelopment with a 80.37% "Yes" vote
After nearly 18 months of fierce debate and many millions of dollars spent on draft plans and proposals, the Adelaide Oval redevelopment and the move of AFL to the city has been given the green light.
Monday night at Wayville Showgrounds was the location of the SACA meeting and vote, with over 2000 members attending on the night.
SACA President Ian McLachlan addressed the meeting before presentations from Oval architect Jonathon Gardiner and John Harden, SACA Chief Executive.
A 90 minute question and answer session then followed before the official voting took place.
At approximately 10:20pm, Ian McLachlan gave the vote result, an announcement that was greeted with huge applause.
10,078 (80.3%) members voted in favour of the proposal, while 2461 (19.63%) members voted against the proposal.
A total of 12,539 of SACA's 19,203 eligible members took part in the vote.
The result means that the Adelaide Oval will get a half a billion dollar facelift and from 2014 AFL football will be played in the city.
Along with a redeveloped Oval, the whole riverside precinct will be revitalised and a footbridge from the railway station across the Torrens to the Adelaide Oval will be built.
Chairman of the SACA Ian McLachlan was delighted and relieved with the result.
"That is a terrific result. This is overwhelmingly positive, I think it's great for the town that these people want to vote like this."
SACA Chief executive John Harnden felt there was a postive mood throughout the meeting but even he didn't know the official result until it was announced to the members.
"It was just hard to believe. There has been so much talk about it and quiet frankly it was quite unbelievable."
Greg Howe from the "Save Adelaide Oval" campaign was disappointed with the result but will not challenge the result.
"It's a result I'm a bit surprised about, but as I said beforehand I accept the vote of the members, I accept that the members have spoken and that's the end of it." he said
"All I ever wanted to do was to ensure that members were able to get the alternative view, they have and they've spoken and I accept the result and we move on and we look forward to the future."
What the vote will mean for football and cricket
The State Government will kick in $450 million for the Adelaide Oval rebuild.
AFL fixtures will be played at Adelaide Oval from 2014.
Adelaide Oval will become a 50,000-seat stadium controlled and used for the majority of the year by football.
SACA will hand over it's control of Adelaide Oval but will run the venue for five months and one week a year.
Sheffield Shield fixtures could shift to Glenelg Oval.
The State Government will pay off SACA's $85 million debt.
Up to $18 million should be freed up from SACA debt repayments in the first two years and will be re-invested in the game.
A new indoor facility will replace the existing training centre.
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