{"id":14249,"date":"2018-01-08T18:04:43","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T07:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/?p=14249"},"modified":"2018-01-20T13:43:53","modified_gmt":"2018-01-20T03:13:53","slug":"new-plans-for-south-australias-first-all-weather-arena-unveiled-at-memorial-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/news\/2018\/01\/08\/new-plans-for-south-australias-first-all-weather-arena-unveiled-at-memorial-drive","title":{"rendered":"New plans for South Australia\u2019s first all-weather arena unveiled at Memorial Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Tennis Australia<\/strong> and <strong>Tennis SA<\/strong>\u00a0have unveiled plans for South Australia\u2019s first all-weather arena at Memorial Drive.<\/p>\n<p>The redeveloped centre court is the jewel in the masterplan to transform Adelaide\u2019s sporting precinct.<\/p>\n<p>Tennis Australia CEO <strong>Craig Tiley<\/strong> is excited by the prospect of a world-class tennis venue for South Australia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe redevelopment of the Memorial Drive centre court is a big step forward for tennis,\u201d Tiley said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSouth Australia has a rich tennis history and the state has produced some of our country\u2019s biggest names in the sport. For many years, the Adelaide men\u2019s event provided critical match-play for the world\u2019s elite tennis players in the lead up to the Australian Open, with stars such as Djokovic, Henman, Hewitt, Enqvist, Woodbridge, Courier, Ivanisevic and Haas all having lifted the trophy at Memorial Drive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a need for a 21<sup>st<\/sup> Century facility that can be filled with new, fresh content.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are really excited by this project and for what it would mean to the sport and for tennis fans in South Australia. We believe that with facilities such as these unveiled today, Adelaide can gain international prominence on the global tennis calendar,\u201d Tiley continued.<\/p>\n<p>Tennis SA CEO <strong>Steven Baldas<\/strong> described the plans as an exciting opportunity for both tennis and all South Australians.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Today&#8217;s announcement will not only aid Tennis SA in attracting major tennis events back to Memorial Drive but it will also bring life and energy to whole Riverbank Precinct 365 days of the year,&#8221; Baldas said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe proposed multi-purpose venue has been designed to complement the heritage of Memorial Drive, with its window arches and ivy linked to the Adelaide Oval. It will be an important step in meeting South Australia\u2019s ever expanding sporting and entertainment needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have been working with all levels of government to ensure that this project has the support it needs throughout the project. All of our research has shown that it will build upon the already significant economic benefits sporting events contribute to our state and will help attract more events to the Riverbank.<\/p>\n<p>We also know that by realising this vision we will consolidate Tennis SA\u2019s financial sustainability. It will allow the organisation to diversify revenue streams and become commercially viable, reducing reliance on government funding for future operations,\u201d Baldas continued.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Memorial Drive redevelopment fast facts:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Australia\u2019s newest Tennis complex and a new destination for significant international matches e.g. Davis Cup and Fed Cup, Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women\u2019s Tennis Association (WTA) events.<\/li>\n<li>A desirable location for the world\u2019s tennis elite to visit and compete in the lead up to the Australian Open<\/li>\n<li>A preferred practice base for Australia\u2019s tennis elite providing three of the world\u2019s Grand Slam court surfaces (one of only two complexes within Australia providing this), enabling athletes to train in their home state<\/li>\n<li>A high performance academy training environment<\/li>\n<li>South Australia\u2019s first \u201call weather arena\u201d with a state of the art \u201cWimbledon style\u201d retractable roof and crowd seating design, creating the perfect venue to attract small to medium concerts and events, ensuring the biggest and best sports and entertainment line-up for the Riverbank Precinct<\/li>\n<li>Areas for new cafes \u00a0and spacious office accommodation, with the potential to accommodate other sports or attract corporate headquarters from interstate and\/or overseas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Stage 1 fast facts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <strong>$9.786<\/strong> <strong>million<\/strong> <strong>Stage 1<\/strong> project is already underway and will include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>new outdoor show court<\/strong> and <strong>two new match courts<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A state-of-the-art National Academy training venue<\/strong> with all three Grand Slam surfaces \u2013 <strong>clay, grass <\/strong>and<strong> hardcourt<\/strong> \u2013 so South Australia can continue to produce world class players<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>Walk of Champions<\/strong> profiling the historical position of the site and South Australia\u2019s tennis legends<\/li>\n<li><strong>Resurfacing of current match courts<\/strong> to ensure the venue can continue to host tournaments such as the World Tennis Challenge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tennis Australia and Tennis SA\u00a0have unveiled plans for South Australia\u2019s first all-weather arena at Memorial Drive. The redeveloped centre court is the jewel in the masterplan to transform Adelaide\u2019s sporting precinct. Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley is excited by the prospect of a world-class tennis venue for South Australia. \u201cThe redevelopment of the Memorial Drive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5736,"featured_media":14250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5736"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}