no brainer. having a stadium in the city would be brilliant.

Sadly what's been announced now is the $10m stage 1, which is to get suburban tennis out of the main courts so they can build the $190m arena which hasn't been officially announced yet. Might need to wait for the state election for that to be promised.

I'd Compare it more to the upgrade of Margaret Court Arena (which cost $180m) than the building of Perth Arena, however I would expect that $190m to blow out a bit more because there's more work to do at Memorial Drive than there was at Margaret Court Arena including seats on the sides for example.

Only in Perthworld does an average stadium (and so ugly on the exterior) cost $700mil.

The Arena cost $550mill. Unfortunately it was built in the height of the resources boom where everything was expensive, and the government at the time had no idea how to manage a project of that size.

$550mil for that piece of crap? What a joke. Nowhere near value for money.

Why is it a piece of crap? What could they have got for that price? I'm assuming you are an expert on major construction projects.

Why is it a piece of crap? What could they have got for that price? I'm assuming you are an expert on major construction projects.

Also closer to home go to Wollongong and see the bargain price they got for a 6K arena which actually looks good even though cheaply constructed. Got to give them a lot of credit, well done.

"I have been to NBA arenas. Many built cheaper and better. Obviously you've only ever been in Perthworld and have nothing to compare it to. Perth Arena is a joke."

Yes, you're lack of specific information clearly proves I've never been to an NBA game...

There were stories of electricians sitting weeks in the arena with nothing to do and getting paid $$$$. Perth is a ripoff city with ripoff projects. Useless state government and an eyesore of an arena now. That design is so WTF.

Architects will always vote something 'funky' and 'different' up. It is awful on the eye.

It's like the Boston City Hall, no one likes it except the architecterual community.

Yes, we know the government mismanaged the project but why does that mean the arena is "a joke"? Its a great stadium that cost a lot.

You haven't actually said what is wrong with it.

Horrible exterior.
No variety in food outlets.
Food and drink closes while event is still running.
Empty spaces inside which assumedly were for more food outlets?
Bad choice of interior arena colour - blue.
Seating far away from court, no 'on top' style.
Security check doesn't work - Seinfeld show had thousands stuck in queue for an hour.
One stand is temporary and actually is unstable and moves when crowd get up.

Only one of those things is an issue with the design and/or construction, and even then its subjective to peoples tastes.

Yeah it's a joke a crappy one week tournament dictates the whole design. Again, clueless state government.

A tournament that no one even goes to

I got free tickets one year and left half way through as the quality of tennis was woeful. How about we at least get a real ATP or WTA tour event.

Record crowd <> large crowd

#132 they go to it, they are sheep, but awful quality.

105k across 13 sessions is not impressive at all. That is far less than the 13 worst attended Wildcats games across all seasons at the arena

#139 it is mostly pensioners who get free/heavily discounted tickets and want to escape the heat for a day

I think you're right. The one time I attended and bailed early there were geriatrics everywhere.

How did this become about Perth Arena?

Perth is the centre of the universe.

Who, Iceland?

^^^ hahaha, brilliant