Eureka Stadium

Mars Stadium
Mars (Eureka) Stadium Aerial 2022
Former names	Northern Oval #1, AUSTAR Arena and Eureka Stadium
Location	Midland Highway, Wendouree, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	37°32′22″S 143°50′53″E / 37.53944°S 143.84806°E / -37.53944; 143.84806
Public transit	Bus CDC Route 30 and CDC Route 12
Owner	City of Ballarat
Operator	City of Ballarat
Seating type	Individual
Capacity	11,000 (6,000 seated)[1]
Record attendance	10,412 (23 April 2022)
Field size	170.8 m × 139.0 m (560.4 ft × 456.0 ft)
Field shape	Oval
Surface	Grass
Scoreboard	Video-electronic (50 m2 [540 sq ft])
Construction
Broke ground	1990
Built	1990
Renovated	2016–17, 2020–21
Expanded	2017
Construction cost	$21.976 million (AUD) (Stage 1) and $6.35 million (AUD) (Stage 2)
Architect	Stages 1 and 2 Peddle Thorp (Melbourne), Stage 3 Cox Architecture and Morton Dunn
Builder	Stage 1 - AW Nicholson Constructions
Project manager	Stage 1 - Atelier Projects
Tenants
North Ballarat Football Club (VFL/BFL) (1990–) GWV Rebels (NAB League) (1993–) North Ballarat Cricket Club (BCA) (1993–) Western Bulldogs (AFL) (2017–) Western United FC (A-League) (2019–) Western Bulldogs (AFLW) (2022–)

Eureka Stadium, known commercially as Mars Stadium, is an oval-shaped sports stadium located in the Eureka Sports Precinct of Wendouree, 2.9 km (1.8 mi) north of the CBD of the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.

History

The first permanent oval used by the North Ballarat Football Club was established in 1963 in the centre of the Ballarat Showgrounds show-ring and Harness Racing track that was used by the Ballarat Trotting Club as its main venue between 1952 and 1966. In 1990 a new large all-weather oval (dimensions 170 by 140 metres (560 ft × 460 ft)) replaced the old harness racing track. The new oval was complemented by a new club pavilion (The North Ballarat Sports Club) which was constructed on private land immediately to the oval's northern flank.

Between 1990 and 2015 the oval was used for many sporting and entertainment purposes although mainly as an Australian rules football and cricket venue. It annually hosted the Ballarat Gift (Athletics Carnival) and the Ballarat Agricultural and Pastoral Society's show-ring events during their annual Show. During this time the North Ballarat Sports Club underwent a number of expansions and upgrades.

The Northern Oval in its original configuration during the annual Ballarat Show, November 2011 prior to its redevelopment

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s various proposals to play AFL football at the ground had been discussed by the Ballarat football community, media, and business groups in isolation. However, in 2008 a proposal to develop the stadium for use by AFL team North Melbourne and the North Ballarat VFL team was put forward to the Victorian State Government by the Ballarat Council and the North Ballarat Sports Club. The proposal received support from the ALP Government during the 2010 State Election, however when not returned to office the new incoming LNP Government gave only conditional support to the proposal before finally abandoning it in 2011. The Ballarat Council, media, sports groups, tourism and business groups continued lobbying under a promotional campaign titled "Think Big Ballarat" until the 2014 State election when the ALP State Opposition announced that they would fund the development as an AFL Level 3 stadium with the first AFL seasonal game to be played from 2017 if elected. Once elected, the new ALP government immediately committed funding in the 2015 State Budget allowing the first stage of development of the stadium to commence.

In order to accommodate grandstands and other facilities the oval was completely rebuilt being re-oriented to a NE-SW axis in preparation for the first stage of construction. The newly rebuilt oval featured state of the art irrigation and drainage systems, a 4000 capacity spectator berm on its South-Eastern flank, and four 37 metres (121 ft) light towers rigged to illuminate the playing arena to 300 lux (sufficient for non-televised State level Australian Football night competition).

In June 2017 naming rights for the venue were granted to Mars Confectionery Australian division. From April 2017 to June 2018 the City of Ballarat and North Ballarat Sports Club negotiated for Council to purchase the Club's freehold land title to ensure that the newly built stadium and existing sports club would be co-developed and future-managed as a singular entity.

The facility today remains the home of the North Ballarat Sports Club including the Greater Western Victoria Rebels of the NAB League and the North Ballarat City FC of the Ballarat Football League. It is also used as a venue for Central Highlands Football League and Ballarat Football League for both seasonal games and finals in addition to hosting two AFL seasonal games per-year since 2017.

Mars Stadium Social Club and Eureka Stand

Sports played at Eureka Stadium

Redevelopments in the 2010s

In 2015 the Ballarat Council prepared a strategic development document titled the "Ballarat Major Events Precinct Master Plan" that detailed a long-term plan for a three-stage development of the Eureka Sports Precinct which encompasses Eureka Stadium, the old Ballarat Showgrounds, neighbouring sports ovals, netball courts and pavilions as well as the construction of the Ballarat Sports Events Centre.^[6]

The Eastern Stand

In June 2015 the Victorian government committed $38.5 million to upgrade the wider Eureka Sports Precinct, with approximately half of the funding allocated to Stage-One development of the Eureka Stadium complex.^[7]

The Eastern Stand and main viewing berm

Planning for construction of the first stage was significantly fast-tracked, occurring whilst the reconstruction of the oval was underway during 2015. Initial design concepts for the grandstands were released for public comment in late 2015 resulting in significant revisions before the final designs were confirmed in May 2016. Soon after tenders for construction were announced, the building works for new grandstand and terraced seating for 5000, player races, a video scoreboard, new coaches boxes and media broadcast suites had commenced. Those construction works being completed by July 2017.

In May 2018 the Victorian State Government commissioned a $500,000 Ballarat Council study to identify works considered necessary to immediately address the facility's known shortcomings as well as long-term development options. The recommendations were delivered to the State Government and informed parts of the Victorian State Government's "Home Ground Advantage - Victoria's Major Stadia Strategy" document.^[8]

From September 2020, Stage 2 development included a $6.6 million works program that provided upgraded player and umpire change-rooms as uni-sex facilities, two new permanent covered entrances and ticketing facilities, new food and beverage outlet, permanent public conveniences at the southern boundary of the stadium, and partial concreting of the south-east viewing berm. These works were completed $250,000 under the original forecast budget for $6.35 million in March 2022.

Since 2018 various sports users and television sports broadcasters have publicly criticised the stadium's Stage 1 2016 lighting upgrade stating its ineffectiveness for digital television broadcasts. In January 2022 the Ballarat Council lobbied for replacement of the stadium's lighting with modern TV broadcast standard towers under a $3.5 million request to political parties ahead of 2022 Federal and State elections.^[9]

When the State of Victoria was awarded rights to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in April 2022, the stadium was flagged for redevelopment to host the main track and field athletics events. The Commonwealth Games would have seen the stadium temporarily upgraded to 30,000 capacity. However in July 2023 the Victorian State Government withdrew Victoria from its hosting commitment citing an unacceptable increase of forecasted costs calculated for the preparation, conduct and post Games reconfiguration of facilities as the reason for the cancellation. Immediately the Premier of Victoria confirmed that the stadium and other proposed Games venues would be still upgraded or built to what was originally intended to be their post-Commonwealth Games configurations. For Eureka Stadium, its reconfiguration will see the stadium remain as an oval sports field. Proposed works are to include the permanent construction of an additional 5000 undercover seats around the eastern boundary of the stadium and the reconfiguration of its southern standing areas to increase spectator capacity among other unspecified upgrades. Additionally, a new international standard competition athletics field and club pavilion will be built to the south of the main stadium on the existing Ballarat Showgrounds site. Whilst the Stage 3 redevelopment timeline is yet to be announced, Sydney based 'Cox Architects' and Ballarat firm 'Morton Dunn' were contracted to produce designs for the stadium's Stage 3 development in May 2023.

Attendance records

Top 5 Attendance Records

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eureka Stadium.

• Eureka Stadium at Austadiums
• Ballarat Major Events Precinct Masterplan Final Report