Westpac Stadium Considers Roof

Wellington, New Zealand’s Stadium Trust is investigating whether installing a roof on the 14-year old 35,000-capacity Westpac Stadium will attract more international name concerts and sporting events.

It would cost between NZ$60 million to $100 million ($52 million to $86.7 million), said stadium chief executive Shane Harmon.

Detractors say that ratepayers will have to fund most of it and that a new 12,000-capacity indoor stadium would be a better option.

<, which opened in 2011, cost NZ$224 million ($194.2 million) after a blow-out from the original NZ$198 million ($171.6 million) budget. It also has ongoing revenue shortfalls, claims the Dominion Post.

Stadium Trust has a requirement to be self-funding. Harmon commented, “We don’t want the fact that we are required to be financially autonomous to limit blue-sky thinking.”

A $50,000 ($43,350) feasibility study, jointly funded by the stadium and Wellington City Council, will look at options. This would include whether the roof be partial, full or retractable. The study will also analyse if the seating be changed to suit different events.