DESIGN plans for Perth's new sports stadium have been unveiled with a view to making it one of the most fan friendly venues in the country.
The $820million stadium and sporting precinct is being built at Burswood on the banks of the Swan River, east of Perth's CBD, and is planned to be ready for the start of the 2018 AFL premiership season.
WA premier Colin Barnett unveiled the design features of the stadium on Wednesday, after the state government confirmed contract negotiations with builder WestStadium were close to being concluded.
The stadium will be five-tiered with a 60,000-seat capacity, up-to 85 per cent of the seats will be under cover, every seat will feature a cup-holder, and there will be 70 food and beverage outlets as well as 4G Wi-Fi coverage across the stadium.
The venue will also house two of the largest video screens in Australia. The exterior design will feature a bronze facade to reflect WA's unique geology while the interior will be lit up by state-of-the-art LED lights to display the home team's colours at night.
Artist's impression of aerial view of new Perth Stadium. (Image: new Perth Stadium)
Fremantle chief executive Steve Rosich said the club was thrilled with the design.
"It's really pleasing that, at first glance, a lot of the aspects we talked about to the government and the project team have been included in the design," Rosich said.
"It's a first-class stadium and we're delighted that it's now at a next important stage.
"Hopefully we can play there in round one, 2018."
The next phase of the process from a football perspective is the financial and commercial modelling for the WA Football Commission and the two AFL clubs, Fremantle and West Coast.
Rosich said discussions between the state government, the WAFC and the two clubs are ongoing as far as memberships, ticketing and revenue is concerned.
"We've started that process now and hopefully it can be resolved if not by the end of this calendar year (then) early next year," Rosich said.
"What will be clear is the amount of product that will be available for members and supporters and Fremantle Dockers members and supporters and the variety of that product is exceptional.
"At the moment we sit at about 38-39,000 reserved seat members at Patersons Stadium and we think we can increase that."
Artist's impression of new Perth Stadium on matchday. (Image: new Perth Stadium)
